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Confederate 
Military History 


A LIBRARY OF CONFEDERATE 
STATES HISTORY, IN TWELVE 
VOLUMES, WRITTEN BY DISTIN¬ 
GUISHED MEN OF THE SOUTH, 
AND EDITED BY GEN. CLEMENT 
A/EVANS OF GEORGIA. 


VOL. VIII. 


Atlanta, Ga. 

Confederate Publishing Company- 

1899 


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Copyright, 1899, 

by Confederate Publishing Company. 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 


CHAPTER I. Formal Secession from the United States— 
Union with the Confederate States—Preparation for War— 
Organization of Troops—General Polk in Command—Occu¬ 
pation of Columbus—Battle of Belmont. 

CHAPTER II. Loss of the Line of the Cumberland—Battle of 
Fishing Creek—Death of General Zollicoffer—Fall of Fort 
Henry—Battle of Dover and Capitulation of Fort Donelson 
—New Madrid and Island No. io—Evacuation of Nashville 
CHAPTER III. The Battle of Shiloh—Organization of the 
Confederate Army.—Assignment of Tennessee regiments— 
Their Prominence in the Army—Gallant Service in the Two 
Days’ Battle—Tennessee Artillery—Lockridge Mill Fight.. 
CHAPTER IV. Bragg and Kirby Smith in Kentucky—Victory 
at Richmond—The Battle of Perryville—Important Service 

of Tennesseeans—Fruits of the Campaign. 

CHAPTER V. The Battle of Murfreesboro—Tennessee Com¬ 
mands Engaged—Operations of the Cavalry—McCown 
Opens the Battle—Heroic Deeds of the Tennessee Brigades 

—Severe Losses—Cheatham and His Division. 

CHAPTER VI. Tennesseeans in Mississippi—At Chickasaw 
Bayou—Gregg’s Brigade at Raymond—One Tennessee Bri¬ 
gade Combats an Army Corps—The Brigades of Reynolds 
and Vaughn at Vicksburg—The First Regiment Heavy Ar¬ 
tillery—The State’s Representation at Port Hudson, La_ 

CHAPTER VII. Campaign in Middle Tennessee—Bragg Re¬ 
tires to Chattanooga—Battle of Chickamauga—Part of Ten¬ 
nesseeans in the Great Victory—Oppression of the People.. 
CHAPTER VIII. The Fatal Pause on Missionary Ridge— 
Changes in Command—Cheatham’s Division—The Fight 
at Lookout Mountain—Disaster on Missionary Ridge—Gal¬ 
lantry of Tennessee Commands—Battle at Ringgold—The 

Knoxville Campaign. 

CHAPTER IX. The Atlanta Campaign—Johnston takes Com¬ 
mand—Reunion of Cheatham’s Division—Tennesseeans at 
Resaca—New Hope Church—Dallas—Kenesaw Mountain— 

Losses of the Army—Battles about Atlanta—Jonesboro. 

CHAPTER X. The Campaign Against Sherman’s Base— Alla- 
toona and Dalton—Hood’s Campaign in Tennessee—Spring 
Hill—Responsibility for the Lost Opportunity—The Battle 
of Franklin—Siege of Murfreesboro—Siege and Battle of 

Nashville—Retreat to Mississippi..... 

CHAPTER XI. Tennesseeans in Virginia—Records of Archer’s 

and Johnson’s Brigades.. 

CHAPTER XII. Tennessee Cavalry—West Tennessee Expedi¬ 
tion—Streight’s Raid—Forrest’s New Command at Jackson 
—Battles of Okolona and Yazoo—West Tennessee Again— 
Fort Donelson, Fort Pillow and Other Battles—Forrest in 

North Alabama and Tennessee. 

CHAPTER XIII. Tennessee and the Navy. 


3 


15 


33 

45 

57 


78 

90 


113 


125 


143 

179 


217 

254 











IV 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER XIV. Tennessee and the Medical Department-265 

CHAPTER XV. Tennessee and the Church. By Rev. M. B. 

DeWitt, Chaplain of the Eighth Tennessee. 269 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 283 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

FACING PAGE. 

Adams, John. 288 

Anderson, Samuel R. 288 

Armstrong, Frank C. 288 

Bate, William B. 288 

Bell, Tyree H. 288 

Brown, John Calvin. 288 

Campbell, Alexander W. 33 & 

Carroll, William H. 288 

Carter, John C. 336 

Chattanooga, Map of Battlefields about. 121 

Cheatham, Benjamin F. 336 

Davidson, Henry B. 336 

Dibrell, George G. 288 

Donelson, Daniel S. 336 

Franklin, Map of the Battlefield. 153 

Frazer, John W. 288 

Gordon, George W. 336 

Hatton, Robert. 336 

Hill, Benjamin J. 336 

Humes, W. Y. C. 336 

Jackson, Alfred E. 288 

Jackson, William H. 336 

Johnson, Bushrod. 304 

Maney, George. 304 

McComb, William. 304 

McCown, John P. 304 

Murfreesboro, Plan of Battle .Between pages 64-5 

Nashville, Map of the Battlefield. 164 

Palmer, Joseph B. 328 

Pillow, Gideon J. 328 

Porter, James D. 1 

Quarles, William A. 304 

Rains, James E. 304 

Shiloh, Map of the Battlefield. 41 

Shiloh, Map of the Field of, near Pittsburg Landing. 33 

Smith, Preston. 328 

Smith, Thomas B. 304 

Strahl, Otho F. 328 

Tennessee, Map of .Between pages 282 and 283 

Tyler, Robert C. 304 

Vaughan, Alfred J. 304 

Vaughn, John C. 328 

Walker, L. M. 328 

Wilcox, Cadmus M. 328 

Wright, Marcus J. 328 

Zollicoffer, Felix K. 328 










































































































JAMES D. PORTER 













TENNESSEE 


BY 


James D. Porter. 




CHAPTER I. 


FORMAL SECESSION FROM THE UNITED STATES — 
UNION WITH THE CONFEDERATE STATES—PREPA¬ 
RATION FOR WAR —ORGANIZATION OF TROOPS — 
GENERAL POLK IN COMMAND —OCCUPATION OF 
COLUMBUS—BATTLE OF BELMONT. 

I N June, 1796, the Congress of the United States passed 
an act, approved by President George Washington, 
providing that, “The State of Tennessee is hereby 
declared to be one of the sixteen United States of Amer¬ 
ica." The framers of the constitution under which 
admission to the Federal Union was secured, were such 
men as Andrew Jackson, James Robertson, William 
Blount, Archibald Roane, John Tipton and their associ¬ 
ate delegates, men who were conspicuous for their love 
of liberty and who had attested their devotion to it at 
King Mountain. John Sevier, one of the heroes of that 
famous battle, was the first governor of the new State. 

Under the political leadership of these men and their 
successors, the love of religious and political freedom, and 
patriotic devotion to the State and to the Federal Union, 
characterized the people of Tennessee, without regard 
to party alliance. This devotion found practical illustra¬ 
tion in the war of 1812, in the Indian wars, and in the 
war with Mexico. The people of Tennessee were de¬ 
scended from North Carolina and Virginia families, many 
of their own descendants had become citizens of Arkan¬ 
sas, Mississippi and Texas, and their kith and kin were 
in large numbers in all the States of the Union. Their 
love for the fatherland, for their own children and kin¬ 
dred, grew apace, and in time this became their para¬ 
mount faith. But aggression followed aggression upon 


3 


4 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


their rights of property; agitation growing in volume and 
respectability brought a sense of insecurity to all, until 
devotion to the Union of the States was weakened, and 
a determination was made to share the fortunes of the 
States of the South. 

In January, 1861, Gov. Isham G. Harris by proc¬ 
lamation convened the legislature of Tennessee in 
extraordinary session to consider the condition of the 
country, and especially to determine whether a constitu¬ 
tional convention should be called. The State of South 
Carolina had already seceded from the Federal Union, and 
other States were about to consummate that act. After 
a month of debate and discussion the question was sub¬ 
mitted to a vote of the people of the State, and the propo¬ 
sition was voted down by a large majority. 

The people of Tennessee wished to avoid a war between 
the States and were anxious for a settlement of the ques¬ 
tions of difference. Their old love for the Union of the 
States animated them, and they believed that the con¬ 
servative sentiment of all the States could devise an 
adjustment that would prevent a resort to arms. They 
opposed a convention because of the belief that it meant 
secession, and that, in their judgment, must only follow 
after the failure of all plans of settlement. Before ad¬ 
journment the legislature elected twelve commissioners, 
eminent and influential citizens of the State, to attend a 
peace conference called to assemble at the city of Wash¬ 
ington. This conference was intended to represent all 
the States, and it was hoped that war could be averted, 
and that through the agency of the peace congress a 
settlement of all perplexing questions could be made. 
The conference met, ex-President John Tyler presided 
over its deliberations; many wise and patriotic gentlemen 
from all of the walks of life were present as delegates 
from the several States; but no acceptable settlement 
could be derived, and the action of the conference was 
without result. 




CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


5 


The general assembly, while considering every sugges¬ 
tion that would avoid the withdrawal of any of the States 
from the Federal Union, was not forgetful of the rights 
of Tennessee, or of its duty to the other States of the 
South. Before adjournment it adopted with substantial 
unanimity a resolution pledging cooperation with the 
States of the South in case the Federal government should 
resort to force. This declaration represented the domi¬ 
nant sentiment of the people of Tennessee, and was 
responsive to the message of the governor, in which he 
declared that “whatever line of policy may be adopted by 
the people of Tennessee with regard to the present Federal 
relations of the State, I am sure that the swords of her 
brave and gallant sons will never be drawn for the pur¬ 
pose of coercing, subjugating, or holding as a conquered 
province any one of her sister States whose people may 
declare their independence of the Federal government. ” 

In less than two months thereafter, the proclamation of 
Abraham Lincoln calling for 75,000 troops was issued; 
the people of Tennessee accepted it as a declaration of 
war, and with decency and dignity began preparation 
to meet it. 

On the 25th of April, 1861, the governor again con¬ 
vened the general assembly in extraordinary session for 
the purpose, as stated in his message, of taking “such 
action as will most likely contribute to the defense of our 
rights, the preservation of our liberties, the sovereignty 
of the State, and the safety of our people. ” He informed 
the legislature that President Lincoln had called upon 
the State of Tennessee to furnish 2,000 troops to aid in 
“suppressing the rebellion,” and that he had declined to 
honor the call. 

On the 1st of May, 1861, the general assembly provided 
for the appointment of commissioners “to enter into a 
military league with the authorities of the Confederate 
States, and with the authorities of the other slave-holding 
States as may wish to enter into it, having in view the 


6 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


protection and defense of the entire South against the 
war that is now being carried on against it. ” On the 
7th of the same month, Henry W. Hilliard, commis¬ 
sioner for the Confederate States, and Gustavus A. Henry, 
A. O. Totten and Washington Barrow, commissioners on 
the part of Tennessee, entered into a “temporary conven¬ 
tion agreement and military league” for the purpose of 
protecting the interests and safety of the contracting 
parties. On the same day the general assembly ratified 
and confirmed this agreement, and pledged “the faith 
and honor of the State of Tennessee” to its observance. 

On the 6th of May, 1861, the legislature submitted an 
ordinance to the people of the State which embraced the 
question of “separation” from the Federal government, 
and of union with the Confederate States, to be voted 
upon on the 8th day of June following. On the 24th of 
the same month the governor issued his proclamation 
declaring that “it appears from the official returns that 
the people of the State of Tennessee have, in their sover¬ 
eign capacity, by an overwhelming majority, cast their 
votes for separation, dissolving all political connection 
with the United States, and adopted the provisional 
government of the Confederate States of America. ” 

The political union thus established was followed by 
the election of delegates to the Provisional Congress, and 
in a few months by the adoption of the permanent govern¬ 
ment and constitution, the election of Jefferson Davis as 
President by the people, and the election of senators 
and representatives to the Congress of the Confederate 
States. 

The legislature provided for the organization of an 
army of 50,000 men, appropriated $5,000,000 toward its 
equipment, and provided for a complete general staff to 
be appointed by the governor, and for the pay of officers 
and men. Authority was also given for the appointment 
of a military and financial board. On the 9th of May, 
1861, the governor appointed, by and with the advice 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


7 


and consent of the general assembly, to be major- 
generals, Gideon J. Pillow and Samuel R. Anderson; 
brigadier-generals, Felix K. Zollicoffer, B. F. Cheatham, 
Robert C. Foster 3rd, John L. T. Sneed and William R. 
Caswell; adjntant-general, Daniel S. Donelson; inspector- 
general, William H. Carroll; surgeon-general, B. W. 
Avent; chief of artillery, John P. McCown; assistant 
adjutant-generals, W. C. Whitthorn, James D. Porter, 
Hiram S. Bradford and D. M. Key, with assistants for 
all departments; and on the 28th of June following he 
appointed Bushrod R. Johnson, colonel and chief of engi¬ 
neers, and made Moses H. Wright captain and chief of 
ordnance. For military and financial board, Neill S. 
Brown, James E. Bailey and William G. Harding were 
selected. V. K. Stevenson was made colonel and chief 
quartermaster, with a full complement of assistants. 
Maj. George W. Cunningham was placed in charge of the 
depot at Nashville for the accumulation of supplies, and 
there, and subsequently at Atlanta, Ga., he exhibited 
extraordinary skill and energy in the discharge of his 
duty. The military and financial board rendered great 
assistance to the chiefs of the several departments of the 
army. The services of the members of the board were 
recognized as of the first importance; their functions 
ceased with the transfer of the troops to the Confederate 
States. 

John Heriges, keeper of public arms, reported in Janu¬ 
ary, 1861, that the State arsenal contained 8,761 muskets 
and rifles, 350 carbines, 4 pieces of artillery, and a small 
lot of pistols and sabers, with 1,815 muskets and rifles, 
228 pistols and 220 sabers in the hands of volunteer 
companies. Of the muskets in the arsenal, 280 were per¬ 
cussion, the balance were flint-lock, and over 4,300 of 
them were badly damaged; the carbines were flint-lock 
and unserviceable, and two of the four pieces of artillery 
were in the same condition. The governor reported in 
his message, dated April 2, 1861, that since the date of 


8 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the report of the keeper of public arms, he had “ordered 
and received at the arsenal 1,400 rifle muskets. ’ ’ This 
constituted the armament of the State of Tennessee. 

The chief of ordnance, Capt. M. H. Wright, thoroughly 
educated to the duties of his place, soon organized a force 
for the repair of arms, the manufacture and preparation 
of ammunition and the equipments of the soldiers, and 
for the conversion of the flint-lock muskets to percussion; 
and aided by patriotic citizens like Samuel D. Morgan, 
established a plant for the manufacture of percussion caps. 
Thus he was able to supply the troops of Tennessee as 
they took the field. Shipments of caps were made to the 
authorities at Richmond, who used them very largely at 
the first battle of Manassas. About 3,000 pounds of 
powder were being manufactured daily. Foundries for 
the manufacture of field guns were constructed at Nash¬ 
ville and Memphis, and by November, guns of good pat¬ 
tern were turned out at both points at the rate of six a 
week. Capt. W. R. Hunt, of the ordnance department, 
was the efficient head at Memphis. 

Nashville soon became a great depot of supplies for 
the Confederate States. The manufacture of powder 
was stimulated, fixed ammunition was made in large 
quantities, large supplies of leather and material for 
clothing and blankets were gathered in, and factories for 
the manufacture of shoes and hats on a large scale were 
established. Great stores of bacon and flour and every¬ 
thing required by an army were provided. From these 
stores supplies were sent to Virginia and all points in 
the Southwest, and Nashville attained a degree of impor¬ 
tance it never before enjoyed and perhaps will not soon 
again enjoy. 

Major-General Pillow established his headquarters at ; 
Memphis and very soon organized the Provisional Army 
of Tennessee. Before the close of the month of May, 
twenty-one regiments of infantry were armed and 
equipped and in the field, and ten artillery companies and 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


9 


one regiment of cavalry were organized and mustered 
into the service of the State, besides three regiments of 
infantry then in Virginia already mustered into the service 
of the Confederate States. More than double that number 
of troops had tendered their services to the State, as the 
governor stated in his message of June 18th, “without 
even a call being madebut their services were declined 
until the necessities of the State required a larger force 
and until arms could be provided. Before the close of 
the year 1861, the official records of the office of the 
Secretary of State show, seventy-one regiments of 
infantry and twenty-two batteries of artillery were 
mustered into the service of the State, and twenty-one 
regiments of cavalry, nine battalions, and enough inde¬ 
pendent companies and partisan rangers to have consti¬ 
tuted eight full regiments were organized. 

In the summer of 1861 all the troops were transferred 
to the service of the Confederate States, and the follow¬ 
ing-named general officers of Tennessee were commis¬ 
sioned brigadier-generals by President Davis: Gideon J. 
Pillow, Samuel R. Anderson, Felix K. Zollicoffer and 
B. F. Cheatham. These were soon followed by the 
appointment of John P. McCown, Bushrod R. Johnson, 
Alexander P. Stewart and William H. Carroll to the 
same rank. 

On the 13th of January, 1861, Gen. Leonidas Polk, 
recently commissioned major-general in the Confederate 
States army, established his headquarters at Memphis as 
commander of Department No. 1. On the 31st of July 
the Army of Tennessee was transferred to the Confeder¬ 
ate States. 

General Polk’s first campaign was organized for the 
relief of the State of Missouri. General Pillow, who was 
ordered to the command of the expedition, embracing 
6,000 troops of all arms, took possession of New Madrid 
on the 28th of July with the advance of his forces, and 
was joined in a few days by Gen. Frank Cheatham, who 


10 


CONFEDERATE MI LIT A R Y HIS TOR Y. 


marched through the country from Union City, Tenn., 
with a brigade of about 3,000 infantry, composed of the 
Fifth Tennessee, Col. William H. Stephens; the Ninth 
Tennessee, Col. H. L. Douglass; Blythe’s Mississippi 
regiment, Col. A. K. Blythe; Miller’s Mississippi battal¬ 
ion of cavalry, Lieut.-Col. J. H. Miller, and Capt. Melanc- 
thon Smith’s Mississippi battery of six field pieces. By the 
21st of August General Pillow’s command had increased 
to 10,000 men of all arms, 2,000 of whom were Missouri¬ 
ans, the balance Tennesseeans, with the exceptions named. 
The movement contemplated the occupation of Ironton 
and St. Louis, but was largely dependent upon the cooper¬ 
ation of Brigadier-General Hardee, then stationed at 
Greenville, Mo., near the border of Arkansas, with a com¬ 
mand of about 5,000 Arkansas troops. This command 
was so deficient in arms, clothing and transportation that 
a forward movement was impossible. General Hardee 
therefore retired to Pitman’s Ferry, on the Arkansas 
river, and the campaign for the redemption of Missouri 
was abandoned. 

On the 3d of September the troops were transferred to 
Hickman and Columbus, Ky., the occupation of which 
points brought forth a vigorous protest from Governor 
Harris, of Tennessee, who had undertaken to have ob¬ 
served the legislative neutrality of the State of Kentucky. 
President Davis was solicitous on this point. He, too, 
wished to observe “Kentucky neutrality,“ but in a dis¬ 
patch to General Polk, dated the 4th of September, 
after the occupation of Columbus, he said, “The necessity 
justifies the action.” Reinforcements were sent to Gen¬ 
eral Polk, mainly from Tennessee; strong lines of earth¬ 
works were provided, siege guns of the largest caliber 
were placed in a fort commanding the river front, and 
very soon Columbus became strongly fortified. At this 
time Brig.-Gen. U. S. Grant, U. S. V., commanded the 
district of Cairo, Ill., with Brig.-Gen. C. F. Smith in 
charge of the troops stationed at Paducah, Ky. 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


11 


General Polk had under his command, in November, 
twenty-one regiments of infantry, eight field batteries, 
one battery of siege guns, two battalions, and six unat¬ 
tached companies of cavalry, all divided into three divi¬ 
sions, commanded, respectively, by General Pillow, Gen¬ 
eral Cheatham and Col. John S. Bowen. The latter was at 
Camp Beauregard, fifteen miles distant. The Thir¬ 
teenth Arkansas, Col. J. C. Tappan, Beltzhoover’s Louis¬ 
iana battery of six guns, and two troops of cavalry 
belonging to the Mississippi battalion commanded by Col. 
J. H. Miller, were stationed at Belmont, Mo., on the 
Mississippi river, opposite Columbus. 

On the morning of the 7th of November, 1861, General 
Grant, with two brigades of infantry, consisting of five 
regiments and two troops of cavalry, in all 3,114 men, 
under cover of two gunboats, debarked from transports 
on the Missouri shore, above Belmont, at a point just out 
of range of Polk’s batteries, and moved in line of battle 
in the direction of the camp of Colonel Tappan. General 
Polk, advised of the landing of the forces under Grant, 
ordered Brigadier-General Pillow to cross the river with 
the Twelfth Tennessee, Col. R. M. Russell; the Thir¬ 
teenth Tennessee, Col. John V. Wright; the Twenty-first 
Tennessee, Col. Ed. Pickett, Jr., and the Twenty-second 
Tennessee, Col. T. J. Freeman. Very soon the Second 
Tennessee, Col. J. Knox Walker, and the Fifteenth Ten¬ 
nessee, Lieut.-Col. R. C. Tyler commanding, joined 
General Pillow, and with Tappan’s regiment and Beltz¬ 
hoover’s battery, and the two companies of cavalry com¬ 
manded by Capt. A. J. Bowles and Lieut. L. Jones, made 
General Pillow’s strength slightly in excess of the Federal 
troops. Making his dispositions to receive Grant’s 
attack, skirmishers were hotly engaged immediately after¬ 
ward and were soon forced back on the main line. 

General Grant’s first battle was on; it was fierce and 
well fought, and according to General Pillow’s official 
report, continued for four hours. In General Grant’s 


12 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


order of the following day, thanking his troops for their 
good conduct at Belmont, he stated that it had been his 
fortune to be present in all the battles fought in Mexico 
by Generals Scott and Taylor, save Buena Vista, and he 
never saw one more hotly contested. The Federal line 
slowly but steadily advanced until the Confederate forces 
were driven to the river bank; Beltzhoover’s battery was 
captured and the guns turned upon the Confederate trans¬ 
ports; Tappan’s camp was captured and his tents and 
stores destroyed. Of this movement General Pillow, in 
his report of the battle, states: “When the enemy’s lines 
reached the bank of the river he was met by the fire of 
Smith’s battery, of Cheatham’s division, from the opposite 
side of the river, which, being well directed, together 
with the heavy guns from the works above Columbus, 
made him recoil from the point. ’ ’ The siege guns were 
directed by Maj. A. P. Stewart. 

Just as the Federal forces began to retire, the Eleventh 
Louisiana regiment, Col. S. F. Marks, of McCown’s di¬ 
vision, reported to General Pillow and was ordered to 
move up the river, “and by a flank movement take the 
enemy in the rear. “ Marks moved to a point “where the 
fire of the enemy seemed to be the hottest,’’ and in con¬ 
junction with Colonel Russell, of the Twelfth Tennessee, 
inflicted very serious punishment upon the enemy. His 
own regiment sustained a loss of 54 killed and wounded. 

At the same hour, General Cheatham, who had been 
sent across the river, a part of his command to follow, 
reformed the Second Tennessee, Colonel Walker; the 
Thirteenth Tennessee, Lieutenant-Colonel Vaughn com¬ 
manding, Colonel Wright having been disabled in the 
previous engagement; the Thirteenth Arkansas, Colonel 
Tappan, and a detachment of the Twenty-second Ten¬ 
nessee under Maj. F. M. Stewart; and with this com¬ 
mand fell upon the rear of Grant’s troops, routed them, 
recaptured two pieces of artillery, took 40 prisoners, 
and killed and disabled a considerable number, with 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


13 


trifling loss to his command. Now, also, Col. Preston 
Smith, commanding the First brigade of Cheatham’s 
division, composed of the One Hundred and Fifty- 
fourth senior regiment of Tennessee, Lieut.-Col. M. J. 
Wright, and Blythe’s Mississippi regiment, arrived 
on the field and joined in the pursuit of the enemy, 
now disorganized and in flight. It was a race with 
this command and the troops of Grant for the trans¬ 
ports. Smith succeeded only in reaching musket range 
of the retreating enemy, and opening fire punished 
him severely, capturing a dozen prisoners. His own 
command sustained a loss of i killed and 12 wounded 
from the fire of the Federal gunboats. 

General Grant reported his entire loss at 85 killed, 301 
wounded and 99 missing. General Polk reported his 
loss at 105 killed, 419 wounded, 107 missing. Brig.-Gen. 
C. FT Smith, under Grant’s order, made a demonstration 
in force in the direction of Columbus in aid of his own 
attack. This menace was successful in inducing the 
belief on the part of General Polk that Columbus was to 
be attacked from the land front, and to this misapprehen¬ 
sion General Grant owes his escape from Belmont. 

On the 6th of December following, the Congress of the 
Confederate States adopted resolutions of thanks to Gen¬ 
erals Polk, Pillow and Cheatham, and the officers and 
men of their commands, “for the glorious victory achieved 
at Belmont, . . . whereby the reduction of Columbus was 
prevented, and the contemplated descent of the enemy 
down the Mississippi river effectually stayed. ’ ’ The gal¬ 
lant gentlemen who bore the burden of that battle have 
never claimed that this was a fitting commendation. 

General Polk, in his official report, makes honorable 
mention of Generals Pillow andMcCown; Col. John V. 
Wright, Thirteenth Tennessee; Maj. A. P. Stewart, after¬ 
ward distinguished as commander of a brigade, division 
and army corps; Capt. M. Smith and the officers of his 
staff; and referring to another famous Tennesseean, said, 


14 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


“I am indebted also to General Cheatham who, at a later 
hour, by his promptitude and gallantry, rallied the broken 
fragments of our column and directed them with such 
resistless energy against the enemy’s flank.” 


CHAPTER II. 


LOSS OF THE LINE OF THE CUMBERLAND—BATTLE 
OF FISHING CREEK—DEATH OF GENERAL ZOLLI- 
COFFER — FALL OF FORT HENRY — BATTLE OF 
DOVER AND CAPITULATION OF FORT DONELSON— 
NEW MADRID AND ISLAND No. io—EVACUATION 
OF NASHVILLE. 


G EN. GEORGE B. CRITTENDEN, commanding 
the Confederate forces in east Tennessee, under 
date of January 18, 1862, advised Gen. A. S. 
Johnston from his camp at Beech Grove, Ky., on the 
north side of the Cumberland river, that he was threat¬ 
ened “by a superior force of the enemy in front, and 
finding it impossible to cross the river, I will have to 
make the fight on the ground I now occupy. ’ ’ He had 
under his command 4,000 effective men in two brigades: 
The First, commanded by Brig.-Gen. Felix K. Zollicoffer, 
was composed of the Fifteenth Mississippi, Lieut.-Col. 
E. C. Walthall; Nineteenth Tennessee, Col. D. H. Cum¬ 
mings; Twentieth Tennessee, Col. Joel A. Battle; Twenty- 
fifth Tennessee, Col. S. S. Stanton; Rutledge’s battery of 
four guns, Capt. A. M. Rutledge, and two companies of 
cavalry commanded by Captains Saunders and Bled¬ 
soe. The Second brigade, commanded by Brig.-Gen. 
William H. Carroll, was composed of the Seven¬ 
teenth Tennessee, Lieutenant-Colonel Miller; Twenty- 
eighth Tennessee, Col. John P. Murray; Twenty- 
ninth Tennessee, Col. Samuel Powell; two guns of 
McClung’s battery, Captain McClung; Sixteenth Ala¬ 
bama, Col. W. B. Wood, and the cavalry battalions of 
Lieutenant-Colonel Brauner and Lieut.-Col. George Mc¬ 
Clellan. The movement to the north of the Cumberland 


15 


16 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


was made by General Zollicoffer without the approval of 
General Johnston. In a dispatch to the latter, dated 
December io, 1861, Zollicoffer said: “I infer from yours 
that I should not have crossed the river, but it is now too 
late. My means of recrossing is so limited, I could 
hardly accomplish it in the face of the enemy. ’ ’ 

General Crittenden united his two brigades, and 
after consulting with their commanders, decided to attack 
the enemy. Soon after daylight on the 19th of January, 
the advance was made, and after a march of nine miles, 
Zollicoffer in front formed his command and made the 
attack with the Nineteenth Tennessee. This gallant regi¬ 
ment charged into the woods, driving the Tenth Indiana 
regiment, when General Zollicoffer, under a fatal mis¬ 
apprehension, rode up and ordered Colonel Cummings to 
cease firing, believing that the attack was upon one of 
his own regiments. He then advanced as if to give an 
order, and was killed just as he discovered his mistake. 
This caused the Nineteenth to break its line and fall back. 
The Twenty-fifth Tennessee had also engaged the enemy, 
and Colonel Stanton was wounded and disabled at the 
head of the regiment which now, impressed with the same 
idea which had proved fatal to the brigade commander, that 
it was firing on friends, broke its line and fell back. Col¬ 
onel Cummings, senior colonel, assumed command of the 
brigade; the Fifteenth Mississippi and Twentieth Ten¬ 
nessee were moved into action, and Carroll’s brigade 
coming up, a general advance was made. General Crit¬ 
tenden in his report of the battle says: “Very soon the 
enemy began to gain ground on our left,” when General 
Carroll, who was at that point, ordered “the Nineteenth 
Tennessee, now commanded by Lieut.-Col. Frank 
Walker, to meet this movement of the enemy, and moved 
the Seventeenth Tennessee to its support. The Twenty- 
eighth, Twenty-fifth and Nineteenth Tennessee were 
driven back by the enemy, and while reforming in the 
rear of the Seventeenth Tennessee, that well-disciplined 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


17 


regiment met and held in check the entire right wing of 
the Northern army. For an hour now the Fifteenth Mis¬ 
sissippi and Twentieth Tennessee had been struggling 
with the superior forces of the enemy.” Their valor 
was heroic. These regiments only abandoned their posi¬ 
tion when the forces on the left retired and exposed them 
to a destructive flank fire; the Twenty-ninth Tennessee 
came to their rescue and checked the flank movement 
for a time with a raking fire at thirty paces. It was 
here that Colonel Powell was badly wounded. Valuable 
service was rendered at this critical moment by the Six¬ 
teenth Alabama, but the battle was lost after three hours 
of fighting. Owing to the formation of the field the 
Confederates were unable to use artillery; the rain which 
was falling rendered useless the flint-lock muskets, with 
which more than half of them were armed; and the death 
of General Zollicoffer and the peculiar circumstances 
attending it were very demoralizing to the troops. Gen¬ 
eral Crittenden retreated without molestation from the 
enemy to his original camp, and during the night fell 
back to the south side of the Cumberland river, abandon¬ 
ing from necessity his artillery, ammunition, wagons, 
horses and stores of every description. General Thomas 
had in action, or in striking distance, the Ninth, Four¬ 
teenth, Seventeenth, Thirty-first and Thirty-eighth Ohio 
regiments; the Second Minnesota, Tenth Indiana, Car¬ 
ter’s Tennessee brigade,Tenth andTwelfth Kentucky regi¬ 
ments, Wolford’s cavalry, and Kenny’s, Wetmore’s and 
Standarts’ batteries. General Crittenden reported his loss 
at 125 killed, 309 wounded, 99 missing. Of this loss the 
Twentieth Tennessee had 33 killed, 59 wounded; Fif¬ 
teenth Mississippi, 44 killed, 153 wounded; Nineteenth 
Tennessee, 10 killed, 22 wounded; Twenty-fifth Tennes¬ 
see, 10 killed, 28 wounded; Seventeenth Tennessee, 11 
killed, 25 wounded; Twenty-eighth Tennessee, 3 killed, 
4 wounded; Twenty-ninth Tennessee, 5 killed, 12 

wounded; Sixteenth Alabama, 9 killed, 5 wounded. Gen- 
TENN 2 


18 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


eral Thomas reported his loss at 39 killed, 207 wounded. 

The State of Tennessee echoed the words of General 
Crittenden when he reported the death of General Zolli- 
coffer: “In counsel he has always shown wisdom, and in 
battle braved dangers, while coolly directing the move¬ 
ments of his troops.” He was a statesman and soldier, 
and all lamented his death, as well as that of his accom¬ 
plished aide-de-camp, Henry R. M. Fogg, Lieut. Bailie 
Peyton, of the Twentieth Tennessee, and others whose 
names were not reported. 

Soon following this disaster, on the right of the Con¬ 
federate line established by Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, 
occurred the loss of the forts which commanded the lower 
Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. 

The engagement at Fort Henry lasted two hours and 
ten minutes. Brig.-Gen. Lloyd Tilghman was in com¬ 
mand of the Confederate forces, consisting of 2,610 
officers and men of all arms. Gen. U. S. Grant, com¬ 
manding an army of 16,000 men, had landed at Bailey’s 
ferry, four miles below Fort Henry, on the 4th of Feb¬ 
ruary, 1862, and proceeded with the investment of the 
fort, awaiting its reduction by Flag-Officer A. H. Foote. 
The squadron commanded by the latter, composed of the 
ironclad gunboats Cincinnati, the flagship Essex, the 
Carondelet, the St. Louis, the Conestoga, the Tyler and 
the Lexington, armed with 54 heavy guns, steamed up 
to within 1,700 yards of the fort, and at thirty minutes 
past noon of the 6th, the fire was opened and responded 
to by the eleven guns of the fort. The distance between 
the fort and fleet was reduced to 1,200 yards and soon 
to 600. The most available gun in the fort in a short time 
burst and disabled every man at the piece. Soon the 
vent of the only 10-inch columbiad was closed and ren¬ 
dered useless, leaving nothing for defense except the 
ordinary 32-pounders. 

At this juncture General Tilghman ordered Col. A. 
Heiman, Tenth Tennessee, the next officer in rank, to 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


19 - 


retire to Fort Donelson with the entire command, leaving 
with himself only Capt. Jesse Taylor’s artillery company 
of Tennesseeans, who manned the heavy guns. Captain 
Taylor’s company had fifty men present for duty, with 
Lieutenants West and Miller. The captain, a native of 
Lexington, Tenn., was an officer of skill and courage, and 
the result of the battle with the Federal fleet shows how 
well his guns were served. Thirty-one shots struck and 
disabled the flagship Cincinnati, killing i and wound¬ 
ing 9; the Essex received 22 shots, one of which passed 
through the ship, opening one of her boilers, disabling 
28 of her crew, and taking off the head of the captain’s 
aide; the St. Louis was struck seven times, and the Caron- 
delet six times. Flag-Officer Foote, in his report of the 
attack on Fort Henry, states that it “was defended with 
most determined gallantry, ’ ’ and that it was surrendered 
after seven of the eleven guns had been disabled. Dur¬ 
ing the fight General Tilghman himself served one of the 
guns, and his gallant bearing was an inspiration to Cap¬ 
tain Taylor’s company. In his official report he makes 
honorable mention of the officers and men of the com¬ 
pany, and states that “Lieutenant Watts is the coolest 
officer under fire I ever saw.’’ Taylor’s casualties 
amounted to 16 killed and wounded. 

The location of Fort Henry was unfortunate, and at the 
date of the attack the high water in the Tennessee river 
had surrounded and separated it from the outside line of 
works. The forces were entirely inadequate for its 
defense, and General Tilghman made the best defense 
possible. He maintained it long enough to enable Colonel 
Heiman to escape with the forces, and sacrificed himself 
and Captain Taylor’s company of Tennesseeans. 

General Grant invested Fort Donelson on the 12th of 
February, 1862, with 15,000 troops, reinforced that even¬ 
ing by six regiments of infantry and Flag-Officer Foote’s 
fleet of four ironclad and two wooden gunboats — the 
St. Louis, Carondelet, Louisville, Pittsburg, Tyler and 


20 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Conestoga. Reinforcements continued to arrive. Wal¬ 
lace’s division was brought over from Fort Henry, 10,000 
men were sent by General Buell, and the Confederate 
lines were enveloped by 24,000 troops. General Buckner 
states, in his report, that at the close of the attack Grant’s 
forces exceeded 50,000. Brig.-Gen. John B. Floyd, of 
Virginia, commanded the Confederate forces, amounting 
to 12,000 men. General Pillow commanded the left, 
General Buckner the right. 

The Tennesseeans present were, the Third Tennessee, 
Col. John C. Brown; Eighteenth, Col. Jos. B. Pal¬ 
mer; Twenty-sixth, Col. John M. Lillard; Thirty-second, 
Col. Ed. C. Cook; Forty-first, Col. Robert Farquharson; 
Tenth, Col. A. Heiman; Forty-second, Col. W. A. 
Quarles; Thirtieth, Col. John W. Head; Forty-ninth, 
Col. James E. Bailey; Forty-eighth, Col. W. M. Voor- 
hees; Tennessee battalion, Colonel Browder; Fiftieth, 
Colonel Sugg; five companies of infantry, Col. S. H. 
Colms; Fifty-third, Col. Alfred H. Abernathy; Forrest’s 
regiment of cavalry, Col. N. B. Forrest; Ninth battalion 
of cavalry, Lieut.-Col. George Gantt; Maney’s light bat¬ 
tery of four guns, Capt. Grant Maney; Green’s battery, 
Captain Green; Porter’s battery, six guns, Capt. Thomas 
Kennedy Porter. The heavy guns were commanded by 
Capt. J. H. Dixon; one battery of 32-pounders, one 
rifle gun, one 10-inch columbiad and two howitzers 
were commanded by Capt. R. R. Ross; Capt. B. G. 
Bidwell, Thirtieth Tennessee infantry, was assigned to a 
battery of four 32-pounders; Capt. T. W. Beaumont, 
Company A, Fiftieth Tennessee infantry, had charge of 
a battery of four 32-pounders, and a battery of eight 
32-pounders was commanded by Capt. Jacob Culbertson. 
Brig.-Gen. Gideon J. Pillow, Brig.-Gen. Simon B. Buck¬ 
ner and Brig.-Gen. Bushrod R. Johnson commanded the 
troops, General Floyd in chief command. The Tennes¬ 
see brigade commanders were Col. A. Heiman, Col. 
John C. Brown and Col. James E. Bailey, the latter com- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


21 


manding the garrison of the fort; Col. N. B. Forrest 
commanded the cavalry. 

The investment of Fort Donelson and the works occu¬ 
pied by the Confederate forces was complete by the after¬ 
noon of the 12 th of February, and on the 13th an unsuc¬ 
cessful assault was made on Bushrod Johnson’s left wing. 
It was met gallantly and repulsed by the Tenth Tennes¬ 
see, Lieut.-Col. R. W. MacGavock; the Fifty-third Ten¬ 
nessee, Lieut.-Col. Thomas F. Winston; the Forty-eighth 
Tennessee, Col. W. M. Voorhees; the Forty-second Ten¬ 
nessee, Col. W. A. Quarles, and Maney’s battery. General 
Johnson and Colonel Heiman both commended in high 
terms the conduct of the men who met this attack. After 
a second and third assault, the enemy retired, leaving his 
dead and wounded on the field. He had met three bloody 
repulses. The principal sufferer on the part of Heiman’s 
brigade was Maney’s battery; it was fought without pro¬ 
tection and with skill and courage, but his loss, chiefly 
from sharpshooters, was such that he was afterward 
unable to man two of his four guns. Colonel Brown, 
commanding brigade, reports that pending this engage¬ 
ment of two hours’ duration, “the enemy planted one sec¬ 
tion of a battery (of field guns) almost in front of Cap¬ 
tain Graves, commanding a Kentucky battery, and 
opened an enfilading fire upon the left of my line, and at 
the same time a cross-fire upon Colonel Heiman. Cap¬ 
tain Graves, handling his favorite rifle piece with the 
same fearless courage that characterized his conduct 
during the entire week, in less than ten minutes knocked 
one of the enemy’s guns from its carriage, and almost at 
the same moment the gallant Porter (commanding bat¬ 
tery) disabled and silenced the other, while the support¬ 
ing infantry retreated precipitately before the storm of 
grape and canister poured into their ranks from both 
batteries.” Two hours before this assault on Heiman’s 
brigade, General Buckner reports, “the enemy made a 
vigorous attack on Hanson’s position (the Second Ken- 


22 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


tucky, Col. Roger W. Hanson), but was repulsed with 
heavy loss. The attack was subsequently renewed by 
three heavy regiments, but was again repulsed by the 
Second Kentucky, aided by a part of the Eighteenth 
Tennessee (Colonel Palmer). In both of these affairs, 
also in a third repulse of the enemy from the same posi¬ 
tion, Porter’s battery played a conspicuous part. ” Col. 
Roger Hanson, in his report of this action, states that 
“in resisting these attacks I was greatly assisted by Por¬ 
ter’s battery upon the left. It always fired at the right 
time and to the right place. ’ ’ 

General Grant had so far failed to accomplish anything 
with his army. On the 14th the main attack was made 
with the enemy’s gunboats. Flag-Officer A. H. Foote, 
United States navy, reported that the action continued 
one hour and a half, and that “in the latter part of the 
action his fleet was less than 400 yards from the fort.” 
“The wheel of this vessel [the flagship], by a shot 
through her pilot-house, was carried away, and the tiller- 
ropes of the Louisville also disabled by a shot, which 
rendered the two boats wholly unmanageable. They then 
drifted down the river. The two remaining boats, the 
Pittsburg and Carondelet, were also greatly damaged 
between wind and water, and soon followed us, the 
enemy rapidly renewing the fire as we drifted helplessly 
down the river. This vessel, the St. Louis, alone 
received 59 shots, four between wind and water, and one 
in the pilot-house, mortally wounding the pilot and 
others. There were 54 killed and wounded’’ on the 
several vessels. 

Capt. Joseph H. Dixon, an officer of great intelligence 
and courage, was killed on the evening of the 13th when 
a few shots were exchanged between the fleet and fort. 
One shot came through the embrasure, striking the left 
cheek of one of the gun-carriages out of which a screw 
bolt was driven, striking him in the forehead, killing him 
instantly. This was the only casualty sustained by the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


23 


batteries. Colonel Bailey’s brigade constituted the gar¬ 
rison of the fort and rendered great assistance to the 
gunners. 

No battle or combat of the war was more decided than 
that between the heavy batteries and the Federal fleet, 
and there were no higher intelligence and gallantry dis¬ 
played on any field of service than that exhibited by Cap¬ 
tains Dixon, Culbertson, Ross, Beaumont, Bidwell and 
Graham. Lieutenants Stankiewitz, Fitzgerald, Spark¬ 
man, Bedford, George Martin and W. C. Allen were hon¬ 
orably mentioned. Captain Culberson reported that “our 
success is mainly attributed’’ to Lieut. H. S. Bedford, 
who directed the io-inch gun. Captain Bidwell, refer¬ 
ring to Private John G. Frequa (or Fuqua) in his report, 
stated that “at the highest gun in my battery he stood 
perfectly upright, calm, cool and collected. I heard him 
say, ‘Now, boys, see me take a chimney.’ The chimney 
[of the vessel] and the flag both fell. Very soon he sent 
a ball through a porthole and the boat fell back. ’ ’ Cap¬ 
tain Beaumont makes honorable mention of Major Rob¬ 
ertson, who volunteered to serve one of his guns; also of 
Sergt. J. S. Martin, Corps. W. H. Proctor and Dan C. 
Lyle, and of Privates Elisha Downs, Poston Couts, Nel¬ 
son Davis, Isaac Christie, Wm. Trotter, Thomas Pearce 
and R. M. Crumpler. But no duty was omitted by 
officers or men, and Tennessee will always hold in grate¬ 
ful memory the prowess of her sons who manned the 
heavy guns in the defense of Fort Donelson. 

On the 15th of February a combined attack was made 
by the two divisions commanded by Generals Pillow and 
Buckner. General Pillow led the left to the attack, soon 
followed by the right. Pillow’s division constituted two- 
thirds of the army. The battle raged from daylight to 
1 o’clock and to that hour was a great success. It was won 
by the troops of all of the States. Virginia, Kentucky, 
Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, Alabama, all shared alike 
in the glory of the achievement. The object of this 


24 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


attack is stated in the report of General Floyd to have 
been, as the result of a consultation with the officers of 
divisions and brigades, “to dislodge the enemy from the 
position on our left, and thus to pass our people into 
the open country. ’ * 

Col. John G. Brown reported that when his brigade 
moved out on Saturday morning it “was provided with 
three days’ cooked rations and marched with knap¬ 
sacks, the purpose being to turn the enemy’s right wing 
and march out on the Wynn’s Ferry road to fall back on 
Nashville.’’ After several fierce combats in cooperation 
with the left division he reports that he “led the Third, 
Eighteenth and Thirty-second Tennessee across an open 
field on the right of Wynn’s Ferry road under the fire of 
a battery posted on that road. ’ ’ The infantry support 
retreated, leaving one section of the battery in his hands. 
He pursued the retreating forces. After this another 
fierce combat ensued, but after the firing of a few volleys 
of musketry the enemy abandoned the field, leaving 800 
killed and wounded. In this last combat Colonel Brown 
was reinforced by the Fourteenth Mississippi regiment 
and Graves’ battery. The brigade lost 50 in killed and 
wounded, among them Col. Thomas M. Gordon of the 
Third, wounded, and the accomplished Lieut.-Col. W. P. 
Moore, mortally wounded. 

General Pillow, leaving Heiman’s brigade in the 
trenches, with the balance of the left division, assisted 
by Forrest’s cavalry, engaged the enemy hotly for two 
hours and succeeded in driving him back on Buckner’s 
division. Forrest’s cavalry charged the infantry support 
of and captured a battery composed of four field pieces 
and two 24-pounders. Gen. Bushrod Johnson, of Ten¬ 
nessee, always reliable and strong in battle, contributed 
largely to the success of the movement. His command 
became united with the forces of General Buckner as the 
enemy retired, as General Pillow reports, “and engaged 
the enemy in a hot contest of nearly one hour, with large 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


25 


forces of fresh troops that had now met ns. This position 
of the enemy being carried by onr joint forces, I called off 
further pursuit after seven hours of continuous and 
bloody conflict, in which our loss was severe, and leaving 
not less than 1,000 of the enemy dead on the field. ’’ The 
object of this battle seemed to be accomplished, but our 
council of war was divided, and the troops were ordered 
to their original position in the intrenchments. 

As Buckner returned he found the Federal forces of 
Gen. C. F. Smith advancing rapidly to take possession 
of his portion of our works, bravely opposed by Maj. 
James J. Turner of the Thirtieth Tennessee. He had a 
stubborn conflict lasting one hour and a half, resulting 
in the seizure of our extreme right. This position was 
in rear of the Confederate river batteries and field-work 
for their protection, and was the key to the Confederate 
situation. It took Buckner in reverse and necessitated the 
ultimate surrender of our forces. The position seized by 
the Federal forces had been occupied by the Second Ken¬ 
tucky. In the struggle to regain it, this gallant regiment 
was reinforced by the Eighteenth, the Third and Thirty- 
second Tennessee, and subsequently by the regiments of 
Colonels Quarles, Sugg and Bailey. General Buckner 
reported that “the enemy made repeated attempts to 
storm my line on the right, but the well-directed fire of 
Porter’s and Graves’ artillery, and the musketry fire of 
the infantry, repelled the attempts and forced him to 
shelter. Porter’s battery, from its exposed position, lost 
more than half its gunners, and the intrepid commander 
was severely wounded late in the afternoon of Saturday, 
being succeeded in command by the gallant Lieutenant 
Morton. ’’ 

The artillery of Tennessee was especially conspicuous. 
Colonel Heim an reported that in the battle of the 13th, 
referring to Maney’s battery. “First Lieutenant Burns 
was one of the first who fell. Second Lieutenant Massie 
was also mortally wounded, but the gallant Maney, with 


26 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the balance of his men, stood by their guns like true 
heroes.” Generals Pillow and Bushrod Johnson warmly 
commended Captains Maney and Green; and General 
Floyd, commander-in-chief, in his report of the battle of 
the 13th, said: “Too high praise cannot be bestowed 
upon the battery of Captain Porter for their participation 
in the rout of the enemy in this assault. My position 
was immediately in front of the point of attack, and I 
was thus enabled to witness the incidents of it. ” Col. 
John C. Brown reported that Captains Porter and Graves 
“excited the admiration of the whole command by an 
exhibition of coolness and bravery, under a heavy fire 
from which they had no protection, which could not be 
excelled. Captain Porter fell dangerously wounded by a 
minie ball through his thigh while working one of his 
guns, his gunners being nearly all of them disabled or 
killed. The command then devolved upon Lieutenant 
Morton, a beardless youth, who stepped forward like an 
old veteran, and nobly did he emulate the example of his 
brave captain.” Lieutenant Morton subsequently be¬ 
came distinguished as captain of Morton’s battery of 
Forrest’s cavalry. 

Gen. N. B. Forrest, then colonel of Forrest’s Tennes¬ 
see cavalry, disputed the advance of General Grant on 
Fort Do nelson with commendable enterprise and skill, 
no other obstacle being offered to the march from Fort 
Henry, and pending the engagement he was actively 
employed on the flanks of our army. Besides his own 
regiment, three mounted companies from Kentucky, com¬ 
manded by Captains Williams, Wilcox and Henry, were 
assigned to his command, and gallantly assisted him. 
He also had assigned to him Gantt’s Tennessee battalion. 
Forrest reported that he “charged two batteries of artil¬ 
lery, taking nine pieces of artillery with 4,000 stand of 
arms.” He lost between 300 and 400 men, killed, 
wounded and missing, a greater loss than was sustained 
by any other regiment of the army. Among his killed was 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


2 ? 


Capt. Charles May, who fell leading his company to a 
charge on the enemy. Fort Donelson was the opening of 
a career to Forrest that carried his name and fame to the 
civilized world and yet excites the admiration of all who 
read of his personal prowess and heroic actions. He 
retired from Fort Donelson before its final surrender. 
General Floyd with his brigade, and General Pillow with 
his staff, left on a transport pending negotiations. 

The Confederate forces amounted to 12,000 to 14,500 
men. General Badeau, in his life of Grant, Vol. I, page 
36, says, on the last day of the fight Grant had 27,000 
men, and other reinforcements arrived after the surren¬ 
der; but General Buckner believed that this was far 
below the number, and General Buell stated in 1865 that 
Grant had 30,000 to 35,000 exclusive of the naval con¬ 
tingent. 

The Federal loss amounted to 2,500 killed, wounded 
and missing. The Confederate loss was about 1,420. On 
Thursday there was a rainfall, followed by snow on Fri¬ 
day, with freezing weather, and by the evening of Satur¬ 
day, the 15th, the men who had spent a week in the 
trenches without sleep and without fire to warm them, . 
were worn out to such an extent that General Buckner 
decided he could not longer maintain himself, and sur¬ 
rendered the troops on the morning of the 16th. This 
was a great disappointment to Gen. Albert Sidney John¬ 
ston, commander of the department. On the 14th he tele¬ 
graphed General Floyd: “If you lose the fort, bring your 
troops to Nashville, if possible.” Roger Hanson in his 
report said that “up to the time (1 o’clock p. m. of the 
15th) when we were ordered back to the trenches, our 
success was complete and our escape secure,” but “our 
success” was misleading and defeated the wishes of 
General Johnston. 

Columbus, Ky., was still held by the Confederate 
troops, as well as New Madrid and Island No. 10. Maj. 
John P. McCown was detached from Columbus, on the 


28 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


26th of February, 1862, and ordered to New Madrid, Mo., 
and placed in command. General Beauregard dis¬ 
patched General Polk on the same day that the place 
“must be watched and held at all cost. ’ ’ 

Three days earlier Major-General Pope, of the Federal 
army, had assumed command of the army of the Missis¬ 
sippi, then concentrated at Commerce, Mo. This was made 
Pope’s base of operations against New Madrid. In a week 
he was in motion, and on the 3d of March he was in front 
of New Madrid. At once he drove in the Confederate 
outposts and invested the place. General Pope reported 
his strength at 22,808 present for duty. His division 
commanders were Brig.-Gens. D. S. Stanley, Schuyler 
Hamilton, John M. Palmer, E. A. Paine, J. B. Plummer 
and Gordon Granger. Eleven batteries of artillery, and 
the Second and Third Michigan regiments of cavalry, 
over 2,000 strong, constituted a part of his army, to which 
was attached a flotilla brigade, under Col. N. B. Buford, 
2,251 strong. Equipments, arms and ammunition were 
perfect. 

To meet this well-appointed army, General McCown 
had 5,000 infantry and three companies of artillery. 
Brig.-Gen. A. P. Stewart, of Tennessee, was assigned to 
the command of the forces. Commodore Hollins, Con¬ 
federate States navy, with five small wooden gunboats, 
was present under McCown’s orders. New Madrid was 
defended by a small earthwork called Fort Thompson, in 
honor of Brig.-Gen. M. Jeff. Thompson, of the Missouri 
State Guard. The work was garrisoned by the Eleventh 
and Twelfth Arkansas regiments of infantry, Stewart’s 
Louisiana battery and Upton’s Tennessee battery, com¬ 
manded by Col. E. W. Gantt, Twelfth Arkansas regi¬ 
ment. Another work at the mouth of Bayou St. John 
was garrisoned by the Fifth and Fortieth Tennessee, two 
Arkansas regiments under Col. L. M. Walker, the First 
Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee regiments, and 
Bankhead’s Tennessee battery. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


29 


On the 4th of March the enemy made a demonstration 
in force on McCown’s lines and was driven back by Hol¬ 
lins’ fleet and our land batteries. On the 6th, Pope occu¬ 
pied Point Pleasant, twelve miles below, with infantry 
and artillery, fortified the place, and established a block¬ 
ade of the river against transports. General McCown 
reported, under date of March 31st, that on the same day 
the enemy with “a white flag induced Capt. J. W. Dun- 
nington (of Tennessee), commanding the gunboat Pon- 
chartrain, to near the shore, when she was fired into by 
musketry, killing and wounding several.” Skirmishing 
continued from day to day until the 13th, the enemy hav¬ 
ing made gradual approaches and planted batteries of 
heavy guns commanding Fort Thompson and the river. 
When convinced that the gunboats could not maintain a 
contest with land batteries, General McCown ordered the 
evacuation of New Madrid. A heavy rainstorm contin¬ 
ued during the night and made the evacuation disorderly, 
and caused the abandonment of the heavy guns and a 
considerable quantity of quartermaster and commissary 
stores. 

General Beauregard made demand for an explanation 
of the causes leading to the evacuation, and when the 
reports were submitted they were referred to Major Brent 
for examination, who reported on the 15th of April: “ 1, 
that the works at New Madrid could have held out longer, 
the enemy up to the date of the evacuation having been sev¬ 
eral times signally repulsed; 2, that disorder and confu¬ 
sion prevailed at Fort Thompson on the night of the 13th, 
the men were disinclined to obey orders, and orders were 
given apparently without authority; that sufficient means 
for transportation were not furnished; that part of the 
abandoned guns could have been saved.” But nothing 
came of the investigation except to demonstrate the 
unfitness of the commander at Fort Thompson. The 
force under McCown was inadequate for the defense of 
New Madrid; and though General Beauregard considered 


30 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


its maintenance and defense important, on the 15th of 
March he approved t the projected evacuation. General 
McCown, in reporting the result to him, said: “The prin¬ 
cipal object I had in holding New Madrid was to possess 
a landing for reinforcements to fight the enemy should I 
receive them. ’ ’ 

Dr. W. S. Ball, medical director, Captain West, provost 
marshal, Lieutenant Robinson of Upton’s battery, and 
one man were killed; Capt. William D. Hallum, of the 
Fifth Tennessee, and eight men were wounded. Hal¬ 
lum received a fearful wound, the ball passing through 
his neck, and was reported by McCown as killed, but he 
recovered in a short time, served throughout the war, and 
made an honorable record. 

McCown, with his troops, transports, and Hollins’ fleet, 
fell back to Tiptonville, on the Tennessee side of the 
river. General Stewart with his brigade was forwarded 
to Corinth and participated conspicuously in the battle of 
Shiloh. 

Meanwhile, on the 17th of March, the Federal gun¬ 
boats had made a vigorous attack without effect at Island 
No. 1 o, the fire being principally directed at the battery com¬ 
manded by Captain Rucker, who returned it, the action 
continuing during the day. McCown, pursuant to orders, 
turned the command over to Brig.-Gen. L. M. Walker, 
just promoted. On the 19th he was ordered to return to 
Madrid Bend. On the 31st he relinquished command, 
under orders, to Brig.-Gen. W. W. Mackall. General 
Mackall found himself in command of 2,273 infantry, 
rank and file, with 58 heavy guns, ten 8-inch colum- 
biads, the balance 32-pounders. Five batteries were 
upon the mainland and three upon Island No. 10. The 
infantry force consisted of the Fifty-fifth Tennessee, Col. 
A. J. Brown, with 50 unarmed men; the Eleventh 
Arkansas, Colonel Smith, armed with every variety of 
sporting guns; the Forty-sixth Tennessee, Col. John M. 
Clark, with 160 armed men out of a total of 400 present 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


31 


for duty; the Fourth Arkansas battalion, Major McKay, 
poorly armed, and two companies of cavalry. Hollins’ 
fleet was well armed, but the boats were worthless. Gen¬ 
eral Walker and Colonel Steadman, next in rank, were 
absent, sick. One battery on the island was under water. 
The line occupied was about 25 miles in length, with 
about 1,000 available infantry for its defense, confronted 
by Pope’s army and a powerful fleet of gunboats. Suc¬ 
cess, or the delay of the enemy, was impossible. Subse¬ 
quently General Beauregard informed Mackall in writ¬ 
ing, that “when I sent you there, I considered matters in 
a desperate condition, and that you were going on a for¬ 
lorn hope. ’’ Brig.-Gen. J. Trudeau was chief of artillery. 
The battery commanders, Capts. E. W. Rucker, Robert 
Sterling, Hoadley, Andrew Jackson, Jr., Jones, J. B. 
Caruthers, W. Y. C. Humes, Dismukes, Fisher, Johns¬ 
ton, were Tennesseeans. The artillerymen were in good 
discipline, and although the approaches to the island 
batteries were under water, and the batteries ultimately 
were submerged, the men were in good form and full 
of confidence. 

The only losses sustained by the Confederates in the 
attack of the 17th of March was Lieut. William M. Clark, 
of Rucker’s battery, killed, and Sergt. I. T. Postlethwaite 
and six men slightly wounded. Four shots struck 
Foote’s fleet without effect. The exchange of shots con¬ 
tinued at intervals until the 6th of April, when Captain 
Jackson, senior officer, under orders, spiked the guns and 
withdrew across Reelfoot lake with the entire artillery 
force. Flag-Officer Foote’s experience at Forts Henry 
and Donelson caused him to keep without the range of 
Confederate guns. With his tactics the forts would 
never have been reduced. It was only when Pope’s 
army crossed to the Tennessee shore, and capture was 
imminent, that Island No. 10 was abandoned. General 
Mackall being cut off from the forts and heavy batteries, 
on the night of the same day undertook to save the 


32 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


infantry and light battery by a retreat through Tipton- 
ville, the only way open. His occupation of that place 
was anticipated by the Federal army, and on the morning 
of the 7th he wisely surrendered the forces under his com¬ 
mand, consisting, as reported by him, of Stewart’s field 
artillery company of 5 guns, and 2,900 infantry, of whom 
400 were unarmed. There were 58 heavy guns aban¬ 
doned, including 1 o guns of the floating battery which 
were sunk in desperation in the Mississippi river. But 
General Pope reported to General Halleck “that 273 field 
and company officers, 6,700 privates, 123 pieces of heavy 
artillery, 35 pieces of field artillery, all of the very best 
character and latest patterns, 7,000 stand of small-arms, 
tents for 12,000 men, several wharf boats, ’ ’ and hundreds 
of horses and mules, with immense stores of ammunition, 
were surrendered to him. Col. W. G. Cumming, Fifty- 
first Illinois, commanding brigade, in an official report, 
dated the 10th of April, said: “Soon after the surrender I 
was ordered by Major-General Pope to take charge of 
the prisoners, who were about 3,000 in number.’’ On 
the 8th of April, when the affair was fresh in his mem¬ 
ory, General Pope telegraphed the department com¬ 
mander that “2,000 prisoners, including General Mack- 
all,” had surrendered and were prisoners of war. 

Nashville had been defended at Fort Donelson. The 
surrender of one made it necessary to abandon the other. 
General Johnston determined to concentrate his own 
troops with those at Columbus, Ky., and at Pensacola, at 
Corinth, Miss., the junction of the Mobile & Ohio and 
the Memphis & Charleston railroads. General Grant was 
moving on the same point, and Gen. Don Carlos Buell, 
of the Federal army, who had been in front of Bowling 
Green with an army of 40,000 men, occupied Nashville 
as soon as it was abandoned by the Confederate forces, 
and began the movement of his troops that enabled him 
to form a junction with Grant in time to save the army of 
the latter from annihilation. 











































































































































































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CHAPTER III. 

THE BATTLE OF SHILOH — ORGANIZATION OF THE 
CONFEDERATE ARMY — ASSIGNMENT OF TENNES¬ 
SEE REGIMENTS — THEIR PROMINENCE IN THE 
ARMY —GALLANT SERVICE IN THE TWO DAYS’ 
BATTLE — TENNESSEE ARTILLERY — LOCKRIDGE 
MILL FIGHT. 

W HEN Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston had united his 
forces from Nashville with those collected under 
General Beauregard at Corinth—the latter 
including the reinforcements from Pensacola and Mobile 
under General Bragg, and Polk’s command from Colum¬ 
bus, which was evacuated—he organized his army with 
Gen. G. T. Beauregard second in command, and Maj.- 
Gen. Braxton Bragg chief of staff and in immediate 
charge of the Second corps. Maj.-Gen. Leonidas Polk 
commanded the First corps, Maj.-Gen. W. J. Hardee the 
Third, and Maj.-Gen. John C. Breckinridge the Reserve 
corps. 

The Tennesseeans were assigned as follows: In Polk’s 
corps, First division, Brig.-Gen. Charles Clark command¬ 
ing—the Twelfth, Thirteenth and Twenty-second regi¬ 
ments, and Bankhead’s battery, to the First brigade, Col. 
R. M. Russell; the Fourth and Fifth regiments to the 
Second brigade, Brig. -Gen. A. P. Stewart. Second 
division, Maj.-Gen. B. F. Cheatham commanding—the 
Second (Knox Walker’s), Fifteenth, One Hundred and 
Fifty-fourth (senior), and Polk’s battery, to the First bri¬ 
gade, Brig.-Cen. Bushrod R. Johnson; the First, Sixth 
and Ninth to the Second brigade, Col. W. H. Stephens. 

In Bragg’s corps, the Thirty-eighth regiment was 
assigned to Col. Preston Pond’s brigade of Ruggles’ divi- 

33 

Tenn 3 


34 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


sion; the Fifty-first and Fifty-second to Brigadier-General 
Chalmers’ brigade of Withers’ division. In Hardee’s 
corps, Brigadier-General Cleburne’s brigade included 
the Thirty-fifth, Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth regi¬ 
ments, and Brig.-Gen. S. A. M. Wood’s brigade, the 
Twenty-seventh, Forty-fourth and Fifty-fifth. The 
Reserve corps had the Nineteenth, Twentieth, Twenty- 
eighth and Forty-fifth regiments, and Rutledge’s battery, 
in the brigade of Col. W. S. Statham, and Crew’s bat¬ 
talion, in Col. R. P. Trabue’s brigade. Forrest’s cavalry 
was under the immediate orders of the general com¬ 
manding. 

At 11 a. m. of the battle of the 6th, when Gen. Bush- 
rod Johnson was disabled by a painful wound, the com¬ 
mand of the brigade devolved upon Col. Preston Smith, 
of the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Tennessee, and the 
command of that gallant regiment upon Lieut.-Col. Mar¬ 
cus J. Wright. At 2130 p. m. of the same day, Col. 
George Maney, senior officer of Stephens’ brigade, 
assumed the command of it; and Maj. Hume R. Feild, 
next in rank present, took command of the First Ten¬ 
nessee. 

Polk’s corps, with the exception of Blythe’s Mississippi, 
the Eleventh Louisiana and the Thirteenth Arkansas, 
was composed entirely of Tennesseeans. Colonel Lind¬ 
say’s Mississippi regiment of cavalry reported to General 
Polk. This splendid regiment had been known up to 
this date as Miller’s battalion, Lieut.-Col. J. H. Miller 
commanding. 

On the 3d day of April General Johnston issued an 
address to the troops, in which he announced, “I have 
put you in motion to offer battle to the invaders of your 
country.” Hon. Jacob Thompson, of Mississippi, aide to 
General Beauregard, in his report of April 9th states that 
this advance was made “in consequence of the informa¬ 
tion brought from General Cheatham,” who occupied 
Bethel Station and the town of Purdy with his division. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


35 


In the attack about to be made on General Grant, Gen¬ 
eral Johnston expected to beat him back to his transports 
and there capture him and his forces, then cross the Ten¬ 
nessee river and give battle to Buell, known to be advanc¬ 
ing to Grant’s assistance. General Johnston rapidly con¬ 
centrated his troops and delivered battle in the early 
morning of the 6th of April. That peerless soldier was 
in immediate and active command of the troops, General 
Beauregard being at his quarters in very feeble health, 
and his presence inspired unbounded enthusiasm. The 
disasters at Fishing creek and Forts Henry and Donelson 
had subjected him to the criticism of politicians, but the 
army and intelligent people of all classes gave him sup¬ 
port and confidence. No fault can be named in his plan 
of attack, and it was successful at all points. 

Grant’s troops made a stout resistance, but retired 
slowly from the moment of the firing of the first gun by 
Hardee until the fall of Johnston at 2 o’clock p. m., 
when the battle of Shiloh was already won and the Fed¬ 
eral hosts were driven back in confusion from the field. 
Gen. James R. Chalmers, who occupied the advance of 
the Confederate army at the close of the day, in a pub¬ 
lished letter, said: “One more resolute movement for¬ 
ward would have captured Grant and his whole army. ’ ’ 
That movement was not made. The troops were with¬ 
drawn to receive an attack from the combined forces of 
Grant and Buell on the following day. Another battle of 
Shiloh was fought, with varying success, until our forces 
began to yield about noon, and at 2 p. m. received orders 
from General Beauregard to retire. 

Tennessee was represented on all parts of the field and 
in all commands. Her sons sustained and promoted the 
character and reputation of the State, and elevated the 
standard of courage, fidelity and patriotism. Their deach- 
roll shows that they were in the fore-front of the battle, 
and with a single exception there was no failure of duty. 
That exception was the Fifty-second regiment of infantry, 


> 36 CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 

Chalmers’ brigade, which was unfortunate in its field 
officers. General Chalmers, in his official report, stated 
that the Fifty-second Tennessee, except two companies 
under Capts. J. A. Russell and A. N. Wilson, who fought 
with the Fifth Mississippi, behaved badly. 

The sons of Tennessee, of every rank, were conspicuous 
for dash and steadiness in action, and for the mainte¬ 
nance of regimental and company organizations under all 
conditions. General Beauregard, in his report, made 
honorable mention of Generals Cheatham and Bushrod 
Johnson; and General Polk, referring to the brigades of 
Johnson and Russell and their charge on Sherman’s divi¬ 
sion, and to the valor of friend and foe, mentions the 
dangerous wounds received by Generals Clark and John¬ 
son, the death of the noble Col. A. K. Blythe of Missis¬ 
sippi (a son of Tennessee); the wounding of gallant Capt. 
Marsh T. Polk, who lost a leg; and the final dislodgment 
of the enemy and the capture of two batteries, one by the 
One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Senior Tennessee, Col. 
Preston Smith, the other by the Thirteenth Tennessee, 
Col. A. J. Vaughan, Jr. 

Polk also called attention to the “brilliant courage” of 
the Fifth Tennessee, Col. C. D. Venable, and the Thirty- 
third Tennessee, Col. Alex. W. Campbell, and to the gal¬ 
lantry of Lieut.-Col. O. F. Strahl, who, in reply to the 
inquiry of his intrepid brigade commander, General 
Stewart, “Can you take that battery?” said, “We will 
try,” and at the order, Forward, moved at a double-quick 
to within thirty paces of the enemy’s guns, halted, deliv¬ 
ered one round, and with a yell charged the battery, cap¬ 
turing several prisoners and the guns; but the valorous 
Fourth lost Maj. John F. Henry and Capt. John Suther¬ 
land, with 31 men killed and 150 wounded. The battery 
captured was composed of heavy guns, supported by 
several regiments of infantry. 

Of another famous incident of the battle, General Polk 
reported that about 5 p. m. of the 6th, his line attacked 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


37 


the enemy’s troops (the last that were left upon the field) 
in an encampment on his right. The attack was made in 
front and flank. The resistance was sharp but short, 
when the enemy, perceiving he was flanked and his 
position completely turned, hoisted his white flag and sur¬ 
rendered with his command, 2,200 strong. The Federal 
commander’s sword being delivered to Col. R. M. Rus¬ 
sell, commanding First brigade, it was found the forces 
captured were those of Brig.-Gen. B. M. Prentiss, Sixth 
division of Grant’s army. 

At 8 a. m. of the 7th General Polk ordered Cheatham’s 
division, reinforced by the Thirty-third and Twenty- 
seventh Tennessee, and Gibson’s Louisiana brigade, to 
move “past Shiloh church to form on left of our line.” 
“They engaged the enemy so soon as they were formed 
and fought him, for four hours, one of the most desper¬ 
ately-contested conflicts of the battle. The enemy was 
driven gradually from his position. ’ ’ General Cheatham 
declared that this conflict was “the most hotly contested I 
ever witnessed. ’ ’ He had met fresh troops under McCook. 
General Polk made honorable mention of Generals 
Cheatham, Clark, Stewart and Johnson, and Colonels 
Russell, Maney, Stephens and Preston Smith. Of Gen¬ 
eral Cheatham he said: “In the operations of this morn¬ 
ing (the 7 th), as well as the day before, those of my 
troops under the immediate orders of Major-General 
Cheatham bore themselves with conspicuous gallantry. 
One charge particularly was made under the eye of the 
commander-in-chief and his staff, and drew forth expres¬ 
sions of the most unqualified applause. ’ ’ 

Cheatham carried into battle 3,801 officers and men. 
He lost 1,213 killed and wounded, nearly one-third of 
the command. Among the killed was noble young John 
Campbell, acting aide; Colonel Wickliffe and Major Wel- 
born, Seventh Kentucky; Capts. J. B. Freeman and 
G. G. Persons, and Lieut. Isaac M. Jackson, Sixth Ten¬ 
nessee; Adjt. Robert Thomas, Ninth Tennessee; Capt. 


38 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


E. M. Cheairs, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth regi¬ 
ment, and others not reported. Colonel Pond, command¬ 
ing brigade, in his report of the battle makes honorable 
mention of Col. Robert F. Looney, Thirty-eighth Tennes¬ 
see. Colonel Looney in his own report states that he 
was ordered by General Polk to charge a battery and 
camp on the morning of the 6th, and “I ordered the 
charge, which was promptly and successfully executed 
as to the camp and battery, and I suppose at least 1,000 
prisoners. ’ ’ 

Col. D. H. Cummings, Nineteenth Tennessee, Reserve 
corps, had been on detached service, with the First Ten¬ 
nessee, under orders from General Johnston; at 2 130 p. m. 
of the 6th, he reported through his adjutant, Melville 
Doak, to General Cheatham, and was now advanced, with 
the First and Ninth Tennessee under Colonel Maney, to 
a final attack on the only position held by the enemy in 
Cheatham’s front. The enemy was routed and fled the 
field. Lieut.-Col. J. H. Miller, with his battalion of 
Mississippi cavalry, was ordered by Cheatham to fall 
upon him in his flight. This resulted in the capture of 
Ross’ Michigan battery of six guns, with officers and 
men. Colonel Cummings made no report, neither did 
Colonel Statham, commanding brigade, but it is known 
that the Nineteenth was an active participant in all of 
the stirring events of the two days’ battle, and bore an 
honorable part in the movement resulting in the capture 
of Prentiss’ division. It lost 25 per cent. ; among the 
wounded being Colonel Cummings and Major Fulkerson, 
and in the list of killed, Capts. Z. T. Willett and Thomas 
H. Walker. 

Hardee, who opened the battle of the 6th at dawn of 
day, stated in his official report that in the first assault 
made by Cleburne, “Colonel Bate, Second Tennessee, 
fell severely wounded while bravely leading his regi¬ 
ment. ’ ’ Colonel Bate was afterward brigadier and 
major-general. At the same time, gallant Maj. W. R. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


39 


Doak and Capts. Joseph P. Tyree and Humphrey Bate, 
and Lieuts. E. R. Cryer, J. A. Akers and G. C. Fugitt, of 
the same regiment, were killed. 

In the attack on the left center of General Hardee’s 
line, “Brigadier-General Wood charged a battery on a 
gentle acclivity and captured six guns, with the Second 
(Bate’s) and Twenty-seventh Tennessee and Sixteenth 
Alabama. In this attack Col. Christopher H. Williams 
of the Twenty-seventh Tennessee was killed. The army 
and the Confederacy sustained a severe loss in the death 
of this gallant officer.” General Wood, referring in his 
report to that noble man and to the same charge, says: 
“Colonel Williams, of the Twenty-seventh Tennessee, a 
modest, unassuming gentleman and Christian soldier, 
faithful in every duty, devoted to his country, his native 
State, and the cause of liberty, fell and died. Lieuten¬ 
ant-Colonel Brown of the same regiment was seriously 
wounded; Captain Hearn and Lieutenant Henry were 
killed.” Maj. Samuel T. Love of the Twenty-seventh, 
serving under Cheatham on the 7th, was killed in a 
charge on the enemy. 

General Cleburne made honorable mention of Colonel 
Bate, and said of his regiment: “Tennessee can never 
mourn for a nobler band than fell this day in her Second 
regiment.” He refers in terms of praise to Col. Matt 
Martin, Twenty-third Tennessee, who arrived on the 
field pending the action, rallied his regiment and 
remained with it until wounded later in the day; also to 
the Twenty-fourth Tennessee, which he said “won a 
character for steady valor, and its commander, Lieuten¬ 
ant-Colonel Peebles, showed that he possessed all the 
qualifications of a commander in the field. The Thirty- 
fifth Tennessee, Col. Benjamin J. Hill, was conspicuous 
in Cleburne’s first and final charge on the enemy. Gen¬ 
eral Cleburne, concluding his report, said: “I would like 
to do justice to the many acts of individual valor and 
intrepid daring during the fight. . . . Col. Ben Hill, 


40 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Fifth Tennessee; Lieutenant-Colonel Peebles, Twenty- 
fourth Tennessee; Lieut. R. H. Keeble, Captain Ridley 
and Lieutenant-Colonel Neil of the Twenty-third Tennes¬ 
see, were among the number.” 

General Wood reported that “Col. C. A. McDaniel, of 
the Forty-fourth Tennessee, acted with great bravery 
and directed his men with good judgment until wounded 
on Monday.” In his own report, Colonel McDaniel said 
that Lieutenant-Colonel Shied, of his regiment, was badly 
wounded on the 6th, and that “his officers and men con¬ 
ducted themselves gallantly and chivalrously.” The 
Fifty-fifth Tennessee, Col. William McKoin, was in 
Wood’s brigade, and held the right of Wood’s line in the 
successful attack of the early morning on the enemy’s 
camp. Of Lieut.-Col. J. M. Crews, of Crews’ battalion, 
Colonel Trabue reported that he “behaved well. ” The 
battalion lost 55 in killed and wounded. 

Forrest’s regiment of cavalry added renown to the 
reputation made at Fort Donelson. He was in advance 
of Breckinridge as he moved out of Corinth, covered the 
flank of our army with the greatest intelligence and 
courage, and participated in the movement which forced 
from Prentiss all support on his left. On the morning 
of the 7th he gave notice of the advance of Nelson’s divi¬ 
sion, made a dash at his skirmish line, captured 50 pris¬ 
oners, and held the enemy in check until ordered by Gen¬ 
eral Hardee to retire. Colonel Forrest was with Breck¬ 
inridge in covering the Confederate retreat to Corinth, 
and in a combat with the Federal advance was severely 
wounded. 

After the abandonment of the capital of Tennessee, 
Gov. Isham G. Harris determined to promote the cause 
of the South at any sacrifice. No effort was left untried 
to induce continued enlistments in the army, and every 
possible encouragement was offered to our people, in the 
districts outside of the Federal lines, to continue the pro¬ 
duction of supplies for the army. Hearty responses were 














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Accompanying report of Gen .G T Beauregard. C S Army 


































CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


41 


made to these calls, and the spirit of resistance was stim¬ 
ulated by the governor’s words and personal example. 
So soon as the army was concentrated at Corinth, he 
reported for service to General Johnston and was assigned 
to duty as aide-de-camp. He was with the general on 
the field of Shiloh, in the active performance of duty, and 
present when that great chieftain received his death- 
wound. In General Beauregard’s report of the battle it 
is recorded that “Gov. Isham G. Harris, of Tennessee, 
went upon the field with General Johnston, was by his 
side when he was shot, aided him from his horse, and 
received him in his arms when he died. Subsequently 
the governor joined my staff and remained with me 
throughout the next day, except when carrying orders or 
employed in encouraging the troops of his own State, to 
whom he gave a conspicuous example of coolness, zeal 
and intrepidity. ’ ’ 

The Forty-seventh Tennessee regiment, Col. M. R. 
Hill, arrived on the field on the morning of the 7th and 
reported to General Polk. It was poorly armed with 
sporting rifles and shotguns, and before going into action 
was conducted by a staff officer of General Cheatham 
to the point where Prentiss surrendered, and was at once 
armed with new Springfield muskets, and supplied with 
ammunition, from the Federal store. It turned these 
guns upon the enemy, and made a good record with 
Cheatham (attached to the brigade commanded by Col. 
Preston Smith) in his battle with McCook’s division of 
Buell’s army. There were three battalions of regulars in 
Rousseau’s brigade of this division, and of Buell’s loss of 
3,753, the heaviest part was sustained by McCook in his 
combat with Cheatham. 

The Tennessee artillery—Bankhead’s battery, Capt. 
Smith P. Bankhead; Polk’s battery, Capt. M. Y. Polk; 
Rutledge’s battery, Capt. A. M. Rutledge—rendered con¬ 
spicuous and valuable services. General Wood, reporting 
the battle of the 7th, testified that when “large masses 


42 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


of the enemy were coming up and pressing my right,.a bat¬ 
tery, which I afterward learned was commanded by Cap¬ 
tain Rutledge, came up to this point and held them in check 
for more than half an hour. ’ ’ Captain Polk was seriously 
wounded on the 6th; Stanford’s Mississippi battery served 
with Stewart’s brigade and rendered good service. 

Capt. Melancthon Smith’s battery, composed of Missis- 
sippians, was attached to Stephens’, afterward Maney’s, 
brigade. It entered the service with Cheatham and was 
mustered into the provisional army of Tennessee. It 
was with Cheatham on the 6th and in his battle of the 
7th with McCook, and was referred to by General 
Cheatham as having rendered “splendid service,’’ Cap¬ 
tain Smith and his officers and men being “distinguished 
examples of gallantry. ’ ’ Captain Smith was afterward 
major and colonel of artillery. The battery continued 
with Cheatham until after the battle of Nashville, under 
the command of Lieut. W. B. Turner, made captain after 
Chickamauga. On the field of Shiloh, Captain Smith 
exchanged his 6-pounder guns for 12-pounders captured 
from the enemy. 

General Cheatham reported the death of Colonel Blythe 
and Lieutenant-Colonel Herron of Blythe’s Mississippi 
regiment, and the wounding of Gen. Bushrod R. John¬ 
son, Col. R. C. Tyler (afterward brigadier-general) of 
the Fifteenth Tennessee, and Captain Polk. Maj. R. P. 
Caldwell, Twelfth Tennessee, conspicuous for his bear¬ 
ing, reports that after the commissioned officers of com¬ 
panies B and G had all been killed or disabled by wounds, 
Private A. T. Fielder took charge of them “and led these 
two companies all day in the thickest part of the battle. ’ ’ 
Lieut.-Col. F. M. Stewart and Capt. W. Dawson, Twenty- 
second Tennessee, were severely wounded. The Thir¬ 
teenth lost 137 killed and wounded, among the former, 
Lieuts. C. H. Whitmore and W. F. Cowan. 

Col. A. W. Campbell of the Thirty-third, afterward 
brigadier-general, reported that Maj. Henry C. McNeill 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


43 


displayed “throughout a cool bravery rarely equaled.” 
The regiment lost 123 killed and wounded. Col. Preston 
Smith reported that the officers and men of his brigade 
conducted themselves well and courageously. The One 
Hundred and Fifty-fourth Tennessee lost 188 in killed 
and wounded. 

The great body of the Tennessee troops never fought 
better than at Shiloh. Though many of them had little 
training, they fought in the open field and exhibited 
remarkable steadiness and readiness to obey orders. 
While company and regimental organizations were 
observed, it was next to impossible to maintain brigade 
and division organizations. The field seemed to be full 
of roving staff officers begging for a regiment to support 
a hard-pressed part of the line. In many instances they 
assumed to be clothed with authority to order a regiment 
from its own brigade to another. The consequence was 
that in a few hours after the opening of the battle the 
efficiency of the troops was seriously affected, and some 
of them were made the victims of great injustice. 

The retirement to Corinth was made in good order. 
No pursuit was made or attempted. General Beauregard 
reports the Confederate loss at 10,699. Swinton fixes the 
loss of Grant and Buell in killed, wounded and captured, 
at 15,000. 

In May, 1862, Colonel Lowe, afterward brigadier-gen¬ 
eral, commanding the Federal forces at Forts Henry and 
Heiman, sent out an expedition in the direction of Paris 
and Dresden, for the capture of medical supplies reported 
to have been forwarded from Paducah to the Confederate 
army. The expedition, consisting of three companies of 
cavalry, was commanded by Maj. Carl Shaeffer de Boern- 
stein. Col. Thomas Claiborne, Sixth Tennessee cavalry, 
with his own and the Seventh Tennessee, Col. W. H. 
Jackson, the whole force 1,250 strong, hearing of the 
Federal expedition, made pursuit from Paris, where he 
expected to meet it, to Lockridge’s mill in Weakley 


44 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


county. Capt. John G. Ballentine, of the Seventh Ten¬ 
nessee, with five companies in advance, surprised the 
pickets, and with a yell, Ballentine’s force, followed by 
the entire command, charged the Federals and pursued 
them in a hot chase for fourteen miles. The Federal 
force was dispersed and scattered in all directions. Six 
were killed, 16 wounded, and 67 captured. 

In his official report Colonel Claiborne stated that Cap¬ 
tain Ballentine was most of all conspicuous for his gallant 
bearing and use of his saber and pistol. He fired at 
and mortally wounded Maj. Carl Shaeffer de Boernstein. 
He engaged in a saber hand-to-hand combat with a brave 
fellow named Hoffman, who several times pierced the 
captain’s coat with his saber, but was forced to yield. 
Captain Ballentine also received blows inflicted with a 
carbine, and was severely bruised. 

In the autumn of 1861, Captain Ballentine had made a 
reconnoissance under orders from General Polk on 
Paducah and other points occupied by the Federal forces, 
and near Paducah attacked a strong outpost, having a fierce 
combat, in which James M. Fleming, afterward a prom¬ 
inent citizen of Tennessee, was wounded and perma¬ 
nently disabled. Fleming was the first Tennesseean 
wounded in the Southwest. A number of Federals were 
killed and wounded. In this affair Captain, afterward 
Colonel, Ballentine exhibited the enterprise, dash and 
splendid courage for which he was so often subsequently 
distinguished. Colonel Claiborne, of the Sixth Tennes¬ 
see, after the campaign of 1862 accepted service on the 
staff of General Buckner, where he served with distinc¬ 
tion. He was an officer of the United States army who 
had resigned as captain of mounted rifles, and offered 
his sword to his native State of Tennessee. He was a 
veteran of the war with Mexico, and was brevetted for 
gallantry at Cerro Gordo. Colonel Jackson was after¬ 
ward brigadier-general, and a prominent commander of 
a cavalry division. 


CHAPTER IV. 


BRAGG AND KIRBY SMITH IN KENTUCKY—VICTORY AT 
RICHMOND —THE BATTLE OF PERRYVILLE — IM¬ 
PORTANT SERVICE OF TENNESSEEANS—FRUITS OF 
THE CAMPAIGN. 

O N June 17, 1862, Gen. Braxton Bragg was placed 
in command of the army, known afterward as the 
army of Tennessee, General Beauregard com¬ 
manding the department. The army was concentrated 
at Tupelo, Miss., and after rest and reorganization was 
ready for the field. General Bragg had before him the 
alternatives of idleness at Tupelo, an attack on Halleck 
at Corinth, an attack on Buell at or about Chattanooga, 
or an attack on Grant in west Tennessee. The threatened 
advance of Buell meant the severance of the Confeder¬ 
ate States, the East from the West. General Bragg, 
seeing this danger, determined, he said, “to move to 
Chattanooga, and drive the enemy from our important 
country in western Alabama, middle Tennessee and Ken¬ 
tucky. ” 

A small division of troops was sent from Tupelo to the 
department of East Tennessee, then commanded by Maj.- 
Gen. E. Kirby Smith, and later, Smith was further 
reinforced by the brigades of P. R. Cleburne and Preston 
Smith. On the 16th of August, 1862, the army of Ken¬ 
tucky, commanded by Maj.-Gen. Kirby Smith, crossed 
the Cumberland mountains into the State of Kentucky; 
and on the 27th and 28th of August, General Bragg 
crossed the Tennessee river, after which the army of 
Tennessee took up its march over Walden’s ridge and 
the Cumberland mountains for middle Tennessee. It 
was found upon reaching that territory that the main 


45 


46 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


forces of the Federal army had been concentrated at 
Nashville, which was strongly fortified. A demonstra¬ 
tion was made against that point, and Bragg’s army was 
thrown rapidly to Glasgow, Ky., reaching there on the 
13th of September. 

In the meantime, on the 30th of August, General Smith 
had met the Federal forces at Richmond, Ky., and won one 
of the most decisive victories of the war. The Federal 
troops were commanded by Brig.-Gen. M. D. Manson until 
2 p. m., when Maj.-Gen. William Nelson reached the 
field and took command. According to General Manson, 
“the Union troops did not exceed 6,500,’’ and General 
Smith reported his whole force at 5,000 officers and men. 

The attack was made and resisted with energy and 
vigor, so much so that Smith believed that he had en¬ 
countered 10,000 men, and Manson was confident that he 
was beaten by an army of veterans 16,000 strong. Gen¬ 
eral Nelson reported, under date of 31st of August, that 
he “arrived on the field three miles south of Richmond, 
at 2 p. m., and found the command in a disorganized 
retreat, or rather a rout. With great exertion I rallied 
about 2,200 men, moved them to a strong position, where 
I was confident I could hold them in check until night, 
and then resume the retreat. The enemy attacked in 
front and on both flanks simultaneously with vigor. Our 
troops stood about three rounds when, struck by a panic, 
they fled in disorder. I was left with my staff almost 
alone. * * General Nelson was wounded in this combat and 
General Manson captured. The return of casualties in 
the United States forces shows that 206 officers and men 
were killed, 844 wounded, and 4,303 captured. 

Major-General Smith, in his report of the battle, said 
that his leading division under General Cleburne found 
the enemy in a fine position six miles from Richmond. 
Without waiting for support, Cleburne commenced the 
action. A brigade under Gen. Thomas J. Churchill was 
moved up to turn the enemy’s right. While he was in 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


47 


motion, the enemy made a bold and well-conducted 
attempt to turn Cleburne’s right. This was admirably 
foiled by the firmness of Preston Smith’s brigade, Cle¬ 
burne’s division, which repulsed the enemy with great 
slaughter. In this affair, General Cleburne was badly 
wounded, and the command of the division devolved on 
Preston Smith, Col. A. J. Vaughan, Jr., taking command 
of the brigade. The Federal troops fell back and took 
position two miles to the rear, where Churchill with Mc¬ 
Cray’s brigade, from Texas and Arkansas, assailed their 
line and completely routed it, just as the cheers of Pres¬ 
ton Smith’s division announced its presence on the field. 

Manson fell back two miles, and then it was that Major- 
General Nelson assumed command of the Federal forces. 
He formed his line of defense in front of Richmond. 
The gallant Churchill again led the advance with McNair’s 
brigade and attacked with great fury. In the meanwhile 
Preston Smith, bringing up his division at a double-quick, 
^formed with wonderful precision and rapidity in front of 
, the enemy’s center and left. Almost without waiting for 
orders, his men advanced and drove the opposing forces 
from the field in great confusion. Gen. Kirby Smith 
issued a congratulatory order to his troops, and said in 
its concluding paragraph: “To-morrow being Sunday, 
the General desires that the troops shall assemble and, 
under their several chaplains, shall return thanks to 
Almighty God, to whose mercy and goodness these vic¬ 
tories are due. ’ ’ 

The cavalry, under Col. J. S. Scott, of the First Louis¬ 
iana, consisted of his own regiment, the Third Tennes¬ 
see, Col. J. W. Starnes; the First Georgia, Col. J. J. 
Morrison; and the Buckner Guards, one company, Cap¬ 
tain Montgomery; the whole numbering 850 men. This 
command was active and efficient, and having passed to 
the rear of the enemy, captured the largest part of the 
prisoners taken. 

The infantry regiments of General Smith’s little army 


48 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


were from Arkansas, Texas and Tennessee. The Ten¬ 
nesseeans were in Cleburne’s division—the Second 
(Walker’s), Lieut.-Col. J. A. Butler commanding; 
Thirty-fifth, Lieutenant-Colonel Smith; and Forty-eighth, 
Col. Geo. H. Nixon, in the brigade commanded by Col. B. J. 
Hill, of the Thirty-fifth; and the One Hundred and Fifty- 
fourth (senior), Col. Edward Fitzgerald; Thirteenth, Col. 
A. J. Vaughan, Jr.; Twelfth and Forty-seventh, Col. L. 
P. McMurray, in the brigade commanded by Col. Preston 
Smith, and later'by Colonel Vaughan. The Confederate 
forces lost 78 killed and 372 wounded. Among the latter 
were Col. Geo. H. Nixon, Forty-eighth, and Col. L. P. 
McMurray, Twelfth and Forty-seventh; among the killed, 
Lieut. -Col. J. A. Butler, Second Tennessee, who fell gal¬ 
lantly leading his regiment in the last charge before Rich¬ 
mond, and Col. Edward Fitzgerald, One Hundred and 
Fifty-fourth regiment, who fell in the first engagement 
at the head of his command. Col. Preston Smith char¬ 
acterized the latter as an officer diligent in executing the 
orders of his superior, and as a leader in battle ever to 
be found in the foremost ranks. Young, full of military 
ardor, he died too soon for his country. Colonel Smith also 
referred in handsome terms to Col. B. J. Hill, Col. A. J. 
Vaughn, and to Lieut.-Col. C. J. Polignac; Col. B. J. 
Hill said of the latter that he “seized the colors of the 
Thirty-fifth Tennessee, bearing the flag triumphantly 
through the thickest of the fight.’’ Colonel Polignac 
was afterward made a brigadier-general. He was a 
descendant of Charles X of France, and after the war 
between the States was a general of division in the army 
of his native country. Capt. J. J. Newsom, Second Ten¬ 
nessee, was distinguished in command of sharpshooters, 
and was seriously wounded. Captain Yancey, of the 
same regiment, led the skirmish line of Hill’s brigade in 
the final conflict. 

The immediate fruits of the victory were 4,303 prison¬ 
ers, 9 pieces of artillery, 10,000 stand of small-arms and 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 49 

large quantities of supplies. After one day of rest, Major- 
General Smith pursued his advance, and on the 2d of Sep¬ 
tember occupied Lexington, Ky. 

Waiting two days at Glasgow, General Bragg advanced 
with the intention of forming a junction with Major-Gen¬ 
eral Smith. The advance brigade under Brigadier-Gen¬ 
eral Chalmers (says General Bragg) was thrown forward 
in the direction of Munfordville to cut the railroad and 
observe the enemy, but was led forward indiscreetly to 
attack a superior force strongly fortified. After a des¬ 
perate fight, General Chalmers was repulsed with a loss 
of 300 killed and wounded; whereupon General Bragg 
moved forward with his whole command, surrounded the 
place, and received its unconditional surrender without 
firing a gun; 4,267 prisoners, an equal number of small- 
arms, 10 pieces of artillery, with munitions and supplies, 
were captured. 

The offer of battle was made to the Federal army under 
General Buell, now advancing on Bragg’s rear, with a 
force nearly double that of the Confederates, but Buell 
avoided the conflict, and Bragg moved on to Bardstown, 
where subsistence for the army could be obtained. There, 
General Polk was left in command, while General Bragg 
joined Major-General Smith at Lexington. In the mean¬ 
time Buell had reached Louisville, and began his move¬ 
ment toward Perryville, and on October 7th information 
was received that Hardee was being pressed by the 
enemy at that point. At once Cheatham, now at Har- 
rodsburg, was ordered forward. 

Our forces near Perryville consisted of three divisions 
of infantry, 14,500 men, and two small brigades of cav¬ 
alry, 1,500 strong. To this, the enemy at first opposed Gil¬ 
bert’s corps of 18,000. General Bragg expected our forces 
to attack at daylight, and General Buell in his report 
said, “I had somewhat expected an attack early in the 
morning on Gilbert’s corps while it was isolated;” but 
the action was delayed until noon of the 8th, when a 

Tenn 4 


50 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


second corps of the enemy, McCook’s, 18,000 strong, had 
reached the field, and at the close of the day Crittenden’s 
corps was in action. It is stated in the official report of 
General Buell that “the effective force which advanced 
on Perryville on the 7th and 8th under my command, 
was about 58,000 infantry, artillery and cavalry.” 

Of General Polk’s right wing of the Confederate army 
but one division, the Tennessee division, under Maj.-Gen. 
B. F. Cheatham, was present. General Polk being in 
immediate command of the army until the arrival of 
General Bragg, General Cheatham was in command of 
the right wing, Brig.-Gen. Daniel S. Donelson taking 
temporary command of his division. 

Cheatham’s division was almost exclusively Tennessee¬ 
ans, the First brigade (Donelson’s), temporarily com¬ 
manded by Col. John H. Savage, comprising the Eighth 
regiment, Col. W. L. Moore; Fifteenth, Col. R. C. Tyler; 
Sixteenth, Col. John H. Savage; Thirty-eighth, Col. 
John C. Carter; Fifty-first, Col. John Chester; and 
Capt. W. W. Carnes’ battery. The Second brigade, com¬ 
manded by A. P. Stewart, included the Fourth Tennes¬ 
see, Col. O. F. Strahl; Fifth, Col. C. D. Venable; 
Twenty-fourth, Lieut.-Col. H. L. W. Bratton; Thirty- 
fourth, Col. E. E. Tansil; Thirty-third, Col. W. P. Jones. 
The Third brigade, Maney’s, had one Georgia regiment 
in addition to the First Tennessee, Col. H. R. Feild; 
Sixth, Col. George C. Porter; Ninth, Lieut.-Col. John W. 
Buford; Twenty-seventh, Lieut.-Col. W. Frierson. The 
Fourth brigade, Gen. Preston Smith, was detached, but 
the Thirteenth Tennessee, Colonel Vaughan, appears to 
have been somewhat engaged. 

General Hardee’s wing comprised the divisions of Pat¬ 
ton Anderson and S. B. Buckner. Tennessee was repre¬ 
sented in Col. Samuel Powell’s brigade of Anderson’s 
division, by Powell’s regiment, the Twenty-ninth; by the 
Second in Cleburne’s brigade of Buckner’s division; and 
in the same division by the Tennessee brigade of Bushrod 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


51 


R. Johnson, comprising the Fifth Confederate, Col. J. A. 
Smith; Seventeenth, Col. A. S. Marks; Twenty-third, 
Lieut.-Col. R. H. Keeble; Twenty-fifth, Col. John M. 
Hughs; Twenty-seventh, Col. Moses White; Forty- 
fourth, Col. John S. Fulton. The Fourth cavalry was 
with Wharton. 

Skirmishing began at io a. m. of the 8th, and soon 
Liddell’s brigade, of Buckner’s division, was hotly en¬ 
gaged, but was withdrawn to our main line. Cheatham 
was moved from left to right, with Wharton’s cavalry on 
his right, to meet a movement of the enemy. General 
Bragg now (at i o’clock) ordered the advance of his whole 
command. Wharton charged the left of the enemy with 
great fury, rushing over stone walls and ravines, and 
driving the opposing infantry several hundred yards. 
Wharton was followed by Cheatham, with the brigades of 
Donelson, Stewart and Maney, who mounted the steep 
and difficult cliffs of Chaplin river and moved forward 
without halt. They were met by a storm of shot and 
shell and heavy masses of infantry, but our brave fellows 
pushed on, driving the enemy before them and captur¬ 
ing three of his batteries. The enemy was pushed back 
a mile, and his three lines crowded into one. General 
Polk declared that this charge of the Tennessee brigades 
was one of the most heroic and brilliant of the war, and 
considering the disparity of the troops engaged, the 
strength of the enemy’s position, the steadiness with 
which they endured the havoc made in their ranks, the 
firmness with which they moved upon the opposing 
masses, it would compare favorably with the most bril¬ 
liant achievements of historic valor. In this charge Gen. 
J. S. Jackson, commanding a division of the Federal 
army, was killed among the guns of one of the captured 
batteries. It appears from the report of General Buell 
that General McCook, against whose corps Cheatham 
made his attack, “represented that his corps was very 
much crippled, the division of General Jackson having, 


52 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


in fact, almost disappeared as a body.” McCook stated 
that “when Terrill’s brigade of Jackson’s division gave 
way, seven guns of Parsons’ eight-gun battery fell into 
the hands of the enemy; at 6 p. m., four of the guns of 
Harris’ Nineteenth Indiana also fell into the hands of 
the enemy. ’ ’ General Terrill was among the killed. 

So conspicuous was the part of Cheatham’s brigades, that 
when General Bragg issued his general order authorizing 
the several commands engaged in the battle at Perryville 
to inscribe the name of that field on their colors, he said: 
“The corps of Cheatham’s division, which made the gal¬ 
lant and desperate charge resulting in the capture of three 
of the enemy’s batteries, will, in addition to the name, 
place the cross-cannon inverted.” The guns of Carnes’ 
and Turner’s batteries were served with coolness and 
courage, and were important factors in the success of 
Cheatham’s division. 

But Cheatham paid dearly for his success. Donelson’s 
brigade sustained a loss of 347 killed and wounded; the 
Sixteenth under Colonel Savage losing 199, more than 
half the casualties of the brigade. Among the killed 
was Capt. J. B. Vance. General Cheatham said of the 
gallant Savage that “in battle he had an instinctive 
knowledge of the point of difficulty and danger and went 
to it." Stewart’s brigade lost 428 killed and wounded; 
Maney’s brigade, 687. 

The First Tennessee lost 179 killed and wounded. 
Among its dead was the gallant Lieut.-Col. John Patter¬ 
son. Colonel Feild, one of the most dashing and reliable 
soldiers of Tennessee, reported that after deploying the 
regiment to the extreme right, it advanced to the charge 
with close, compact ranks, killing all the horses and men 
of the battery in his front, and driving its support away. 
Through a misapprehension of orders the regiment fell 
back, and the enemy returned to the guns, but Feild 
reformed and led the regiment up the hill without sup¬ 
port, under a heavy fire of musketry, and took the guns 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


53 


of the battery a second time. At this point the First 
lost 40 or 50 officers and men. 

The Sixth Tennessee, always conspicuous in battle, sus¬ 
tained a loss of 91. Colonel Porter said that in assault¬ 
ing McCook’s line, Capt. Thomas B. Rains and Lieuts. 
Ed. Seabrook, C. N. Carter and N. A. Butler were killed. 
The color-bearer, John Andrews, being badly wounded, 
the colors were seized by John Ayeres, one of the color 
squad, who was in a few moments killed. A. W. Pegues 
next caught up the flag, but was very soon shot in three 
places and disabled. Ed. Quinn, private Company H, 
then bore them in advance of the regiment across the 
field, where he too was killed. 

The Ninth Tennessee suffered a loss of 154. Among 
the wounded were the gallant Col. John W. Buford, 
Capts. J. W. Hubbard, C. B. Simonton, H. C. Irby, J. L. 
Hall and H. A. Rogers; and among the dead were 
Capt J. M. McDonald, Lieuts. P. J. Fitzpatrick, W. T. 
Sanler, James I. Hall, J. M. Mathews and D. M. Bell. 
After the fall of Colonel Buford the command of the regi¬ 
ment devolved on Maj. George W. Kelsoe, who led it 
skillfully and courageously. 

The Twenty-seventh was commanded by Lieutenant- 
Colonel Frierson until disabled, when he was succeeded 
by Maj. A. C. Allen. The story of the Twenty-seventh 
is the same as that of all the regiments of this brigade— 
duty well and gallantly performed by officers and men. 
Colonel Frierson named with honor his color-bearer, Pri¬ 
vate John Olive. The regiment had a roll of killed and 
wounded numbering 108. Capt. John M. Taylor and 
Lieut. E. E. Pate were reported mortally wounded, but 
Captain Taylor recovered, after long suffering, and has 
been deservedly honored by his countrymen in civil life. 

The Fourth regiment was superb in discipline and train¬ 
ing. It lost nearly one-third of those present for duty. 
It was noted for the courage and steadiness always dis¬ 
played; when McCook’s line was driven back this regi- 


54 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ment stacked arms. It was armed with new Enfield rifles 
abandoned by the Federal troops, and used them in the 
advance immediately made. Capt. John B. Turner, 
Lieut. W. O. Capers and Hugh Banks were among the 
killed. 

The Fifth sustained the credit won at Shiloh. Colonel 
Venable was seriously injured by a fall from his horse, 
but never left his post. Lieut.-Col. W. C. Suor had his 
horse killed, but served gallantly on foot. The gallant 
Capts. John W. Harris, John T. Irwin and James P. 
Cooper, Lieuts. George C. Kemp, Sam Kirkpatrick and 
Coleman Wilson, and Color-Bearer J. B. Jones were 
seriously wounded. Captain Cooper lost 20 men killed 
and wounded out of 34 present. And there were many 
brave men killed and wounded whose names are not 
reported. Private Haygood of the Fifth, shot through 
the breast with an iron ramrod, drew it out himself. 
Another private soldier, Tip Allen, was shot in the neck 
with a minie ball, which in a few minutes was ejected 
through his mouth. Both these soldiers marched from 
the field to Knoxville, Tenn. 

The Fifth Confederate lost 45 killed and wounded; the 
Seventeenth, 24. The Twenty-third suffered a loss of 52 
killed and wounded out of a total of 201, among the killed 
being Capt. W. A. Ott. The Twenty-fifth had a loss of 
8; the Thirty-seventh, of 39; and the Forty-fourth lost 
43. The Federal forces in front of these regiments (Bush- 
rod Johnson’s brigade) were Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana 
men, commanded by the accomplished Col. Wm. H. 
Lytle, of Ohio. He was wounded and captured by a 
soldier of Johnson’s brigade. On his recovery and 
exchange, being made a brigadier-general, he fell at 
Chickamauga. 

The left of the Confederate line, under General Hardee, 
was held by the brigades of Gen. D. W. Adams and Col. 
Sam Powell (wounded in action). Bushrod Johnson’s 
brigade gallantly led the advance supported by Cleburne. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


55 


The brigades of John C. Brown (wounded in action) and 
Jones, of Anderson’s division, and S. A. M. Wood were on 
the left of Cheatham. Liddell’s brigade was in reserve, 
until toward the close of the day it went to the support of 
Cheatham. Forming on his extreme right, Liddell took 
the enemy in flank, and inflicted great slaughter upon the 
left of Rousseau’s division. 

The cavalry commanded by Gens. Joseph Wheeler and 
John A. Wharton rendered most conspicuous service. 
The charges led by General Wheeler on the left, and by 
Wharton on the right, were as gallant and effective as 
any made during the war. 

General Buell’s losses were, killed, wounded and miss¬ 
ing, 4,241, and the total loss of Bragg’s army was 3,212. 
This loss attests the severity of the battle. General 
McCook, of the Federal army, referred to it in his report 
as the “bloodiest battle of modern times, for the number 
of troops engaged on our side. ’ ’ 

General Bragg, ascertaining that Buell was heavily 
reinforced during the night, retired the next morning to 
Harrodsburg, where he was joined by Major-General 
Smith, and thence to Bryantsville, where he remained 
until the 13th, affording ample time to Buell to attack. 
Instead of that, the latter occupied himself in destroying 
mills from which General Bragg had been drawing bread- 
stuffs. 

The Confederate army was not strong enough for an 
offensive campaign, and disappointed in recruiting his 
strength in Kentucky, General Bragg retired by way 
of Cumberland Gap to middle Tennessee. The army had 
on this campaign captured more than 12,000 prisoners 
(Gen. John Morgan captured 2,000 additional, and Gen¬ 
eral Forrest, operating in Tennessee, over 7,000), 30 
pieces of artillery, 17,000 small-arms, with ammunition, 
wagons, teams, and an immense amount of supplies and 
clothing for the troops. Cumberland Gap was ours, north 
Alabama and middle Tennessee had been recovered, and 


66 


CONFEDERTAE MILITARY HISTORY. 


General Bragg was in front of Nashville, with his army 
in good form, and stronger than when the campaign 
began. Gen. Kirby Smith was in undisputed possession 
of east Tennessee. He had forced the evacuation of 
Cumberland Gap, had won the victory at Richmond, Ky., 
and had traversed the State of Kentucky without let 
or hindrance, in spite of the grand strategy of General 
Halleck, commander-in-chief of the armies of the United 
States in the Southwest, who said in a dispatch to Buell, 
dated Corinth, June n, 1862: “Smith must abandon 
east Tennessee or be captured. ’ ’ 

On the 23d of October, General Bragg ordered Lieuten¬ 
ant-General Polk to proceed with his command to Mur¬ 
freesboro, Tenn. 


CHAPTER V. 


THE BATTLE OF MURFREESBORO —TENNESSEE COM¬ 
MANDS ENGAGED—OPERATIONS OF THE CAVALRY 
—McCOWN OPENS THE BATTLE—HEROIC DEEDS OF 
THE TENNESSEE BRIGADES — SEVERE LOSSES — 
CHEATHAM AND HIS DIVISION. 

O N the 20th of November, 1862, the Confederate 
army of Tennessee was constituted under Gen. 
Braxton Bragg, consisting of the army corps of 
Lieut.-Gen. E. Kirby Smith, Lieut.-Gen. Leonidas Polk 
and Lieut.-Gen. W. J. Hardee. 

At the conclusion of the campaign in Kentucky, Major- 
General Buell, the Federal commander, was relieved, 
and Maj.-Gen. W. S. Rosecrans assigned to the command 
of the army of the Cumberland. 

The Federal army occupied Nashville, and after months 
of preparation General Rosecrans began his advance on 
the 26th of December. The Confederate center was at 
Murfreesboro under General Polk, the right wing at 
Readyville under Maj.-Gen. John P. McCown, the left at 
Triune and Eagleville under General Hardee. The right 
and left were withdrawn, and the forces concentrated at 
Murfreesboro ready to receive the attack made by Rose¬ 
crans. Rosecrans’ plan of movement was for Major- 
General McCook with three divisions to advance by Tri¬ 
une, Maj.-Gen. George H. Thomas to advance on his 
right with two divisions, Major-General Crittenden with 
three divisions to move directly on Murfreesboro. At 
3 o’clock p. m. of the 30th, General Palmer, in advance, 
sent back a signal message that he “was in sight of 
Murfreesboro, and that the enemy were running.” An 


57 


58 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


order was promptly sent forward to “occupy Murfrees¬ 
boro. “ 

General Cheatham’s division was yet composed of the 
brigades commanded by Gens. Daniel S. Donelson, 
Alex. P. Stewart, George P. Maney and Preston Smith. 
This division, with that of Maj,-Gen. Jones M. Withers, 
constituted Polk’s corps. 

The Sixteenth Tennessee, Col. John H. Savage; the 
Thirty-eighth, Col. John C. Carter; the Eighth, Col. W. 
L. Moore; the Fifty-first, Col. John Chester; the Eighty- 
fourth, Col. S. S. Stanton, and Carnes’ battery, consti¬ 
tuted Donelson’s brigade. 

The Fourth and Fifth Tennessee consolidated, Col. O. 
F. Strahl; the Twenty-fourth, Col. H. L. W. Bratton; 
the Nineteenth, Col. F. M. Walker; the Thirty-first and 
Thirty-third consolidated, Col. E. E. Tansil, and Stan¬ 
ford’s Mississippi battery, constituted Stewart’s brigade. 

The First and Twenty-seventh Tennessee consolidated, 
Col. H. R. Feild; the Fourth (Confederate), Col. J. A. 
McMurray; the Sixth and Ninth consolidated, Col. C. S. 
Hurt, Capt. Frank Maney’s sharpshooters, and Turner’s 
Mississippi battery, constituted Maney’s brigade. 

The One Hundred and Fifty-fourth (senior) Tennessee 
regiment, Lieut.-Col. M. Magevney, Jr.; the Thirteenth, 
Col. A. J. Vaughan; the Twelfth, Maj. J. N. Wyatt; the 
Forty-seventh, Capt. W. M. Watkins; the Twenty-ninth, 
Maj. J. B. Johnson; the Ninth Texas, Col. W. H. Young; 
Allin’s Tennessee sharpshooters, Lieut. J. R. J. Creigh¬ 
ton, and the Tennessee battery of Capt. W. L. Scott, 
constituted Smith’s brigade, commanded during the battle 
by Col. A. J. Vaughan, Lieut.-Col. W. E. Morgan com¬ 
manding the Thirteenth regiment. 

Hardee’s corps included the divisions of Maj.- 
Gens. John C. Breckinridge, P. R. Cleburne and J. P. 
McCown. The Eleventh Tennessee, Col. George W. Gor¬ 
don, was a part of the command of Brig.-Gen. James E. 
Rains, McCown’s division. Brig.-Gen. Gideon J. Pillow 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


59 


was assigned to the command of Col. J. B. Palmer's 
Second brigade of Breckinridge’s division, on the after¬ 
noon of the 2d of January; it was composed of the Eigh¬ 
teenth Tennessee, Col. J. B. Palmer; the Twenty-sixth, 
Col. John M. Lillard; the Forty-fifth, Col. A. Searcy; 
the Twenty-eighth, Col. P. D. Cunningham, and Moses’ 
battery. (The Thirty-second Tennessee, Col. Ed. C. 
Cook, of this brigade, was on detached service.) 

The Twentieth Tennessee regiment, Col. T. B. Smith, 
and the Tennessee battery of Capt. E. E. Wright were 
in Gen. William Preston’s brigade of Breckinridge’s 
division. The Second Tennessee, Col. W. D. Robinson; 
Thirty-fifth, Col. B. J. Hill; Fifth (Confederate), Col. 
J. A. Smith, constituted a part of the brigade under Gen. 
Lucims E. Polk, Cleburne’s division. The brigade of Gen. 
Bushrod R. Johnson, Cleburne’s division, included the 
Thirty-seventh Tennessee, Col. Moses White; Forty- 
fourth, Col. John S. Fulton; Twenty-fifth, Col. John M. 
Hughs; Seventeenth, Col. A. S. Marks; Twenty-third, 
Lieut.-Col. R. H. Keeble. 

The First Tennessee cavalry, Col. James E. Carter, 
and the Tennessee battalions of Maj. DeWitt C. Douglass 
and Maj. D. W. Holman were part of Wheeler’s bri¬ 
gade of the cavalry division commanded by Gen. Joseph 
Wheeler. The Second cavalry, Col. H. M. Ashby; 
Fourth, Col. Baxter Smith; Murray’s Tennessee cavalry, 
Maj. W. S. Bledsoe; Wharton’s escort company, Capt. 
Paul F. Anderson, and the battery of Capt. B. F. White, 
Jr., were the Tennessee commands in the cavalry brigade 
of Gen. John A. Wharton. 

Rosecrans consumed four days in advancing a distance 
of twenty miles over macadamized roads, his movements 
being delayed and embarrassed by the watchfulness of 
the cavalry commanded by Generals Wheeler and Whar¬ 
ton. On the 26th, Wheeler engaged Rosecrans during 
the entire day, falling back only three miles, and on the 
28th and 29th he killed and wounded large numbers, his 


60 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


own command sustaining slight loss. At midnight of the 
29th, General Wheeler, reinforced by Col. James E. 
Carter, First Tennessee cavalry, was ordered to the rear 
of the enemy. He reported that at daylight he met near 
Jefferson a brigade train which he took and destroyed, 
capturing 50 prisoners; at Lavergne attacked and cap¬ 
tured 700 prisoners and destroyed immense trains amount¬ 
ing to many hundred thousand dollars in value; at Rock 
Springs captured and destroyed another large train; 
at Nolensville captured large trains, stores and arms, and 
300 prisoners; after which he proceeded to the left of the 
Confederate army; thus making a compass of the enemy’s 
rear. 

At the dawn of day, December 31st, Major-General Mc- 
Cown (Tennessee) opened the battle of Murfreesboro with 
his division, composed of Ector’s, McNair’s and Rains’ 
brigades. A volley was delivered after advancing for 
several hundred yards under fire, and with fixed bayonets 
the position and batteries of the enemy were taken, and 
the officer in command, Brigadier-General Willich, was 
captured. McCown, continuing his advance, supported 
by Cleburne’s division, reached a point near the Wilkin¬ 
son road, where, finding the enemy strongly posted, the 
division was pushed forward and after a fierce struggle 
again routed the forces opposing. It was at this point 
that Brig.-Gen. James E. Rains (Tennessee) fell, shot 
through the heart. General McCown reported that the 
fall of this gallant officer and accomplished gentleman 
threw his brigade into confusion. The division, after 
driving the enemy two miles, was ordered to retire a 
short distance for reformation; about the same time the 
gallant Col. G. W. Gordon, Eleventh Tennessee, after¬ 
ward brigadier-general, fell dangerously wounded. 

Cleburne, advancing with his division, composed of 
L. E. Polk’s, Bushrod Johnson’s, St. John Liddell’s and 
S. A. M. Wood’s brigades, soon found himself in the front 
line, skirmishing over broken ground filled with lime- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


61 


stone boulders and cedar bushes to such an extent that 
his advance was attended with much difficulty, and Polk’s 
and Johnson’s brigades had to move more than once by 
the flank. At the distance of three-quarters of a mile in 
advance of his bivouac of the previous night, he encoun¬ 
tered the enemy’s line of battle, established behind a fence 
and natural breastworks of limestone. The fight was 
short and bloody, lasting about twenty-five minutes, 
when the enemy gave way and fell back on his second 
line, which was again assaulted. This soon yielded and 
both lines, pressed into one, left the field, Liddell cap¬ 
turing two rifled cannon, which were immediately turned 
upon the enemy. 

The Seventeenth Tennessee, Col. A. S. Marks, captured 
a battery of four guns. When the regiment came in sight 
of it, Colonel Marks said, “Boys, do you see that battery? 
It is ours, is it not?’’ The regiment rushed upon it, 
drove back its support, and took the guns, but the gallant 
colonel fell, maimed for life. Cleburne mentioned him as 
‘ ‘one of the best officers in the division. ” Others wounded 
in Johnson’s brigade were Maj. H. C. Ewing, Forty- 
seventh, mortally; Col. Moses White and Lieut.-Col. 
R. D. Frayser, Thirty-seventh, and Col. J. M. Hughs, 
Twenty-fifth. 

Bushrod Johnson’s brigade and Liddell’s were already 
the chief sufferers. The latter, now in advance, was 
reinforced by Johnson in double-quick time, and taking 
position behind a fence and ledge of rocks, a battery of 
four Parrott guns was silenced and captured, and after a 
conflict of twenty minutes the enemy’s force was routed. 
But, observing the supporting troops on the right falling 
back without apparent cause, Johnson’s brigade retired 
in confusion without orders. The loss of life in 
Johnson’s front was enormous, many lying side by side 
in the position assumed to await the approach of the Con¬ 
federates, while large numbers fell as they turned to 
retreat. It was in this combat that Capt. M. R. Allen, 


62 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Twenty-third, was mortally wounded, and Capt. F. M. 
Orr, Seventeenth, Lieuts. Simpson Isom, Twenty-fifth, 
and J. J. Hill, Forty-fourth, were killed, and Maj. J. T. 
McReynolds, the last field officer on duty, of the Thirty- 
seventh, was mortally wounded. 

Polk’s brigade on the right advanced with Johnson’s 
and shared its fortunes. Their gallant commanders 
could always be trusted for promptness, courage and 
intelligence on the battlefield. Col. B. J. Hill, Thirty- 
fifth, on Polk’s right, was first engaged when advancing 
across the Franklin dirt road. The brigade, aided by 
Calvert’s battery, drove the enemy in confusion, pursuing 
to a point where he had reformed, then again assailing 
and forcing back the Federals in disorder. A third suc¬ 
cessful assault was made with the brigades of Wood and 
Johnson. Yet again going forward with Liddell’s and 
Johnson’s brigades, and Preston Smith’s, Col. A. J. 
Vaughan commanding, the enemy was found posted on 
the railroad near the Nashville turnpike, with several bat¬ 
teries of artillery. In a few moments the new Federal 
line was broken and forced back to cedar brakes in its 
rear, the Confederates pursuing. HereAdjt. F. T. Smith, 
Fifth Confederate, was badly wounded at the moment he 
was cheering his men with the colors of the regiment in 
his hand. 

This point, thought Brigadier-General Polk, was the 
key to the Federal position. If Confederate reinforce¬ 
ments had arrived when this last successful assault was 
made at 2 p. m., the enemy’s line of communication would 
have been cut, and a position in the rear of Rosecrans 
secured. Capt. C. P. Moore and Lieut. J. L. Gifford, of the 
Second, were killed. General Polk names with honor 
Col. W. D. Robinson and Lieut.-Col. W. J. Hale, Second; 
Maj. R. J. Person, Fifth Confederate; and recommended 
promotion for Col. J. A. Smith and Col. B. J. Hill, which 
was in time accorded to both. 

Gen. Bushrod Johnson made honorable mention of Col 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


63 


A. S. Marks and Lieut.-Col. W. W. Floyd, Seventeenth; 
Lieut.-Col. R. H. Keeble, Twenty-third; Col. John S. 
Fulton and Lieut.-Col. John L. McEwen, Jr., Forty- 
fourth; Capt. Putnam Darden, of Darden’s battery; 
Capts. R. B. Snowden, assistant adjutant-general, twice 
wounded; John Overton, volunteer aide, wounded; Lieut. 
George H. Smith, wounded; and Capt. Jo. H. Vanleer, 
volunteer aide, who, after having his horse disabled, 
fought in the ranks with a rifle. 

General Cleburne called particular attention to the gal¬ 
lant conduct of Sergt. William N. Cameron, color-bearer 
of the Twenty-fifth regiment, who in the last combat 
advanced in front of his regiment so far that when it fell 
back he was unable to follow and was captured. He tore 
the flag from the staff, concealed it upon his person, and 
made his escape at Bowling Green, Ky., bringing back 
with him the colors of his regiment. 

Colonel Palmer’s brigade occupied the left center in 
Breckinridge’s line of battle. On Wednesday morning, 
Palmer, learning that there were Federal troops in his 
front, ordered his skirmishers under Capt. G. H. Love to 
advance, assigning Capt. David H. C. Spence of his staff 
to direct their operations. Uniting with a detachment of 
Pegram’s cavalry, Captain Spence captured 18 wagons 
and 170 prisoners without sustaining loss. At noon 
of the same day, this brigade, with Preston’s, under 
orders from General Breckinridge, moved across Stone’s 
river to the left wing of the army, then hotly engaged, 
and assailed at once the enemy’s position just west of the 
Cowan house, which was carried after a stout resistance. 
The brigade charged across an open field for a distance 
of 400 yards, under a heavy musketry and artillery fire. 
It was during this advance that the Twentieth Tennessee, 
Preston’s brigade, passing to the right of the Cowan 
house, engaged the enemy with vigor, captured 25 
prisoners and cleared the woods in front. The regi¬ 
ment sustained serious losses, and Col. Thomas B. Smith, 


64 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


referred to by General Preston as “a brave and skillful 
officer,” was severely wounded. 

With Polk’s corps, the battle of Murfreesboro opened 
at sunset on the 30th of December. Robertson’s Florida 
battery was placed in the Triune road, supported by the 
One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Tennessee and two Ala¬ 
bama regiments of Loomis’ brigade, Withers’ division. 
Soon after going into position the battery was assailed by 
three Federal regiments, which were repulsed, the bat¬ 
tery and its supports sustaining serious losses. Darkness 
suspended hostilities. 

At daylight on the 31st the attack made by McCown on 
the extreme left was taken up by Loomis’ brigade, act¬ 
ing under orders of General Cheatham; it having been 
agreed on account of the character of the country and the 
formation of the corps that the brigades of Manigault and 
Loomis should receive orders from General Cheatham, 
and the brigades of Donelson and Stewart should be 
under the control of General Withers. 

The enemy was 300 yards in front of Loomis as he 
advanced to the attack, which was vigorously made; but 
on reaching the cedar woods, he found superior numbers 
and was forced to retire to his original position. The 
supporting brigade (Preston Smith’s), under Col. A. J. 
Vaughan, repeated the attack over the same ground, driv¬ 
ing the enemy from his battery, so fatal to Loomis, and 
capturing two of his guns; but, receiving an enfilading 
fire of artillery and musketry from his right, Vaughn was 
content to hold what he had so bravely won. He was in 
good order and was again sent forward by Cheatham. In 
the attack by Colonel Loomis he was badly wounded, the 
command of his brigade devolving upon Col. J. G. 
Coltart; and in the desperate charge made by Colonel 
Vaughan, Lieut.-Col. W. E. Morgan and Maj. Peter H. 
Cole (Thirteenth) were mortally wounded. 

Manigault, advancing simultaneously with Loomis, was 
compelled to fall back by the latter’s retirement, and 



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CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


65 


then reforming, gallantly advanced the second time, but 
was forced back to his original position. Then forming 
on the right of Maney’s brigade, the two advanced, led 
by Cheatham, toward the Wilkinson road, near the Hard¬ 
ing place, and were opened upon by two of the enemy’s 
batteries, one on Manigault’s right on the west side of 
the road, the other on the east side. Turner’s battery, 
placed in position by General Maney near a brick kiln, 
opened on the battery on r the east and soon silenced it. 
Uniting with Colonel Vaughn, commanding Smith’s bri¬ 
gade, the Wilkinson road was crossed, the enemy’s bat¬ 
tery on the right was silenced, its support driven away 
and the guns abandoned. 

At this point the advancing line found the brigade of 
Gen. Alex. P. Stewart in a hot fight, the result of which 
was the capture of three guns of the First Missouri bat¬ 
tery. In the assault, Col. H. L. W. Bratton, the gallant 
commander of the Twenty-fourth, was killed. 

Vaughan was now ordered by General Cheatham to 
advance with Cleburne’s division, and the enemy was 
driven from two of his guns and fell back to the Nash¬ 
ville road, where he was heavily reinforced. Vaughan’s 
brigade, flushed with victory and rushing forward with 
great spirit, outstripped the force on* the right, when 
suddenly it was subjected to a heavy enfilading fire. He 
retired in order, a short distance, to the Wilkinson road, 
where, unmolested by the enemy, he bivouacked for the 
night, before doing so having driven the enemy from 
another battery, which he was unable to bring off. 
Vaughan led his brigade with skill and judgment and with 
characteristic gallantry, was ably supported by his regi¬ 
mental officers, and his veteran soldiers were always 
reliable. He reported that “when Color-Bearer Quinn, 
a gallant soldier of the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth 
Tennessee, was killed, Maj. J. W. Dawson snatched the 
broken staff and carried it with the colors at the head of 
the regiment during the fight.’’ Likewise Colonel 

Term 8 


66 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 

Young, of the Ninth Texas, seized the flag of his regi¬ 
ment and carried it through one of the most desperate 
charges made by the brigade. The brigade lost 705 
officers and men out of a total present of 1,813. Among 
the killed were Lieuts. J. S. Fielder and J. H. Pat¬ 
terson, Twelfth Tennessee; Capt. J. H. Sinclair, Forty- 
seventh; Lieut.-Col. C. S. Hall, One Hundred and Fifty- 
fourth; Lieuts. A. M. Burch and J. R. J. Creighton, 
Allin’s sharpshooters. The gallant Capt. John R. 
Duncan, Twelfth, was mortally wounded. 

After the capture of the guns of the First Missouri 
battery, General Stewart drove the enemy steadily before 
him. While moving through the cedar forest the bri¬ 
gade of Gen. John K. Jackson came up, and the Fifth 
Georgia on his right, uniting with the Fourth and Fifth 
Tennessee, advanced beyond the general line and 
delivered a heavy and well-sustained fire upon the 
retreating ranks of the enemy, doing great execution. 
Referring to the assault made on the Federal line, Maj.- 
Gen. Withers says that at the critical moment, “Brig.- 
Gen. A. P. Stewart was ordered forward to the support. 
In splendid order and with a cheer this fine brigade 
moved forward under its gallant and accomplished com¬ 
mander, attacked and drove back the enemy, and com¬ 
pleted the rout of his first line and the capture of his 
batteries.” At this point the reserve artillery, consisting 
of three or four batteries of the enemy, opened on 
Stewart and exposed his brigade to a terrific fire of shell 
and canister, and without artillery himself, he could make 
no further advance. 

In Stewart’s last assault, Lieut.-Col. W. B. Ross, 
formerly of the Second (Walker’s) Tennessee, acting 
aide to General Stewart, was mortally wounded; Lieut. 
J. P. Ferguson, Fourth and Fifth; Capt. S. J. Frazier 
and Lieut. S. G. Abernathy, Nineteenth; Capt. Jesse 
Irwin and Lieuts. J. B. Arnold and J. S. Hardison, 
Twenty-fourth; Lieut. W. P. Hutcheson, Thirty-first 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


6? 


and Thirty-third, and Lieut. A. A. Hardin, Stanford’s 
battery, were killed; and Lieut.-Col. J. A. Wilson and 
Adjt. H. W. Mott, Twenty-fourth; Maj. R. A. Jarnigan, 
Nineteenth, and Capt. T. H. Francis, Fourth, were 
wounded. Lieut.-Col. Andrew J. Keller, of the Fourth, 
was very sick, but in spite of his disability was at his post. 
Stewart lost one-fourth of his brigade; the Nineteenth, 
under gallant Frank Walker, suffered more heavily than 
any other* regiment. Colonel Walker reported the brave 
conduct of Orderly-Sergt. Joseph Thompson, Company I, 
who, after the brigade had halted, advanced far into the 
field and captured two prisoners. 

Donelson’s brigade, advanced as a support to Chalmers 
of Withers’ division, was under fire of shot and shell 
until nightfall, and sustained losses in killed and wounded 
in every part of the field of battle early in the action. 
When General Chalmers was wounded, causing his bri¬ 
gade to fall back in confusion, Donelson moved up, under 
heavy fire, to its place in the front line. Reaching the 
Cowan house, the brigade separated, the Sixteenth and 
three companies of the Fifty-first being forced to the 
right because of the picket fencing. This detachment, 
under the gallant Col. John H. Savage, advanced upon 
the enemy until checked by three batteries with heavy 
infantry supports, and then unable to advance and deter¬ 
mined not to retire, the veteran Savage deployed his 
command as skirmishers, and held his ground against 
great odds for three hours, and until reinforced by 
Adams’ brigade. Adams made a spirited attack but did 
not move the enemy; subsequently, this position was 
assaulted by Preston’s brigade with the same result; the 
two bivouacked for the night close upon the Federal 
position. If the attack had been a combined one, the 
result might have been disastrous to the enemy. In this 
combat the Sixteenth lost Lieut.-Col. L. N. Savage, 
mortally wounded, Capt. D. C. Spurlock, killed, and 
Major Womack was badly wounded. Colonel Savage 


68 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


carried 400 men into action and had 208 killed, wounded 
and missing, of which 36 were killed on the line. After 
the fall of Captain Spurlock, no officer of his company 
surviving him, Private Hackett was placed in command, 
who exhibited courage and good conduct. After Color- 
bearer Sergeant Marberry was wounded, the flag was 
taken by Private Womack. He, too, was wounded, the 
colors were shot into fragments, and the flagstaff severed 
by a rifle ball. 

The Eighth, Thirty-eighth, and seven companies of 
the Fifty-first advanced to the left of the Cowan house, 
charged and broke the enemy, and inflicted great losses. 
In this charge, Col. W. L. Moore of the Eighth, after 
his horse was shot and fell upon him, disengaged himself, 
went forward on foot with his regiment, and died with the 
shout of victory in his ears. A noble gentleman, a 
soldier and a patriot, his loss was a severe blow to the 
service. The gallant Lieut.-Col. J. H. Anderson suc¬ 
ceeded to the command of the regiment. General 
Donelson reported the capture of 11 pieces of artillery 
and 1,000 prisoners, and the successful holding of the 
position the brigade had won. 

The conduct of Donelson’s brigade won high com¬ 
mendation from Cheatham, the division commander. 
The fruit of the bravery of the men was great, but the 
loss was severe—out of 1,400 men, 691 killed, wounded 
and missing, the 19 missing being prisoners of war. 
The Eighth Tennessee showed a long list of killed and 
wounded; in Company D, Capt. M. C. Shook was killed, 
and out of 12 officers and 62 men engaged, but 1 
corporal and 20 men escaped unhurt. Capt. William 
Sadler, and Lieuts. Thomas O. Blacknall and N. Martin 
Kerby were killed. Capt. B. H. Holland, of the Thirty- 
eighth, was killed with the colors of the regiment in his 
hands. Color-Sergt. J. M. Rice, being shot down, clung 
to the flag, and crawling on his knees, carried it a short 
distance, when he was killed by a second bullet. Adjt. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


69 


R. L. Caruthers, of the Thirty-eighth, was severely 
wounded; Capt. T. C. Campbell, of the Fifty-first, was 
killed, and Capts. J. A. Russell and James F. Franklin 
and Lieuts. G. C. Howard and R. A. Burford were 
severely wounded. 

Maney’s brigade was in support of Manigault, but 
soon advanced under Cheatham’s orders to the front line, 
at “the brick kiln,’’ where they encountered fierce 
opposition. Colonel Feild, of the First Tennessee, said 
this was the only place where “we actually engaged the 
enemy.” The latter was driven from his guns, pursued 
across the Wilkinson road, driven from another battery 
of four guns in reserve and the guns captured, and the 
brigade then bivouacked on the line from which the 
enemy was driven, and held it until our forces retired to 
Shelbyville and Tullahoma, three days after the conflict. 

The First Tennessee lost Lieut. R. F. James, killed 
(an officer trusted by Colonel Feild with the performance 
of duties demanding tact and courage), and 80 men killed 
and wounded; the Fourth lost Capt. D. P. Skelton, 
mortally wounded, and Capt. C. Brown, Lieut. John 
Shane and 40 men wounded. Conspicuous in a regiment 
famous for its courage was Sergeant Oakley, color-bearer, 
who found no place too perilous for the display of the 
regimental flag. The Sixth and Ninth lost Lieuts. 
W. D. Irby, A. J. Bucey and F. J. Gilliam, killed, and 
Capt. E. B. McClanahan, wounded, and 40 men killed and 
wounded. The aggregate loss of the brigade was 196. 

The officers and men of Carnes’ battery, Capt. W. W. 
Carnes; Smith’s battery, Lieut. W. B. Turner; Stan¬ 
ford’s battery, Capt. E. J. Stanford, and Scott’s battery, 
Capt. W. L. Scott, were conspicuous for steadiness, skill 
and courage in action. 

When General Wheeler had returned from his success¬ 
ful raid of the 30th he found the battle on, and his 
cavalry joined in the attack and drove the enemy for two 
miles, engaging him until dark. Then Wharton’s cav- 


70 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


airy was ordered to the rear of the enemy, but, he 
says, so vigorous was the attack of our left (made by 
McCown’s division) that he had to proceed first at a trot 
and then at a gallop two and a half miles before he could 
execute his orders. Reaching a point near the Wilkinson 
pike, with the enemy in his front, Capt. B. F. White 
(Tennessee) was ordered to open with his battery. The 
First Confederate regiment, Col. JohnT. Cox, charged and 
captured the Seventy-fifth Illinois infantry. Four com¬ 
panies of the Eighth Texas, under Capt. S. P. Christian, 
charged and captured a four-gun battery complete. 

Wharton sent his 1,500 prisoners to the rear, and 
moved across the country a short distance near the Nash¬ 
ville road, until he found a large body of Federal cavalry 
facing him. White’s battery again opened the ball, and 
the Second Tennessee, Col. H. M. Ashby, and McCown’s 
escort company, Capt. L. T. Hardy, with the Eighth 
Texas on the right, were ordered to charge. They were 
met by a countercharge, supposed to be by the Fourth 
regulars, but the enemy was routed, and retreated in 
wild confusion, abandoning several hundred wagons. 
One thousand infantrymen were captured. 

Wharton’s forces too zealously followed the retreating 
enemy. Soon another Federal force of about 300 cavalry, 
seeing White’s battery unprotected, moved down rapidly, 
and when within 400 yards General Wharton opportunely 
returned from the pursuit. Col. Baxter Smith, Fourth 
Tennessee, promptly formed about 20 men, the guns 
were unlimbered, several shells were exploded in the 
enemy’s ranks, and they retired in disorder. The same 
Federal command subsequently attacked the guard of the 
captured wagon train and recovered a portion of them 
and several of the prisoners, but a large number of 
wagons, 5 or 6 pieces of artillery, 400 prisoners, 327 
beef cattle, and a large number of mules were secured. 
Col. Baxter Smith, said General Wharton, “behaved with 
the utmost gallantry ail'd judgment,’’ and he named 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY,\ 


71 


Captain White, “whose gallantry upon this and every 
other field was most conspicuous. ’ ’ The entire strength 
of the brigade was 2,000. The loss was 108 killed and 
wounded, 107 captured. 

After placing the captured property within our lines 
and arming his command with improved arms captured 
from the enemy, General Wharton returned to the rear 
of the enemy and engaged him until nightfall. Then he 
placed his command upon the left of the Confederate 
army and picketed for its protection. 

On Friday afternoon, January 2d, Major-General Breck¬ 
inridge was ordered by the commanding general, in 
person, to take the crest of the hill in his front on the 
east side of Stone’s river. Capt. E. Eldridge Wright’s bat¬ 
tery, which had been detached, was ordered to rejoin 
Preston’s brigade. Brigadier-General Pillow, who had 
reported for duty, was assigned by General Bragg to 
Colonel Palmer’s brigade, and “that fine officer resumed 
command of his regiment, ’’ the Eighteenth. The division 
advanced, Pillow with the Tennesseeans on the right, sup¬ 
ported by Preston; Hanson on the left with the Second, 
Fourth, Sixth and Ninth Kentucky and Forty-first 
Alabama, supported by Adams’ brigade, Col. R. L. Gib¬ 
son, Sixteenth Louisiana, commanding. As soon as the 
field was entered, the battle opened, and the enemy was 
driven over the crest of the hill. Wright’s battery was 
advanced, and the Twentieth Tennessee, on the right of 
Preston, soon in the front line, suffered severely; but it 
dashed forward and drove the enemy down the hill, cap¬ 
turing 200 prisoners. The division moved to the charge 
in perfect order, and in a few minutes the Federal division 
in its front was routed and driven from the crest, but the 
ground so gallantly won by Breckinridge was commanded 
by the enemy’s batteries within easy range. The Federal 
guns swept the front, right, and left, and large numbers 
of fresh troops were rapidly concentrated, forcing Breck¬ 
inridge back to his original line. 


72 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


“Wright’s battery was bravely fought,” said General 
Preston, “but lost its gallant commander, who was killed 
at his guns.” At his fall, Lieut. J. W. Mebane, himself 
wounded, succeeded in withdrawing all of the battery 
except two pieces. According to General Breckinridge, 
“one was lost because there was but one boy left (Private 
Wright) to limber the piece, and his strength was 
unequal to it.” The “boy” named by General Breckin¬ 
ridge was Luke E. Wright, younger brother of the gal¬ 
lant captain, and afterward junior-lieutenant of the 
battery. The experience of that fateful day made him a 
veteran and a conspicuous soldier; he survived the war 
and attained civil prominence as one of the leaders of 
the bar of Tennessee. Before the fragment of the com¬ 
pany was hardly out of the battery, in obedience to orders 
to retire, the Federal flag was flying on one of their lost 
guns. Lieutenants Grant and Phillips, with the guns 
saved, stood fast and covered the retreat of the attack¬ 
ing division, which fell back in the face of overwhelming 
numbers, and with the conviction that somebody had 
blundered. General Hardee, the corps commander, said 
in his official report, “this movement was made without 
my knowledge. ’ ’ 

On the 20th of April, 1863, Lieutenant-General Hardee, 
under instructions, furnished the following names of 
officers of his corps who fell at Murfreesboro, who were 
conspicuous for their valor, to be inscribed on the guns 
of one of the reserve batteries: Maj. Henry C. Erwin, 
Forty-fourth; Maj. James T. McReynolds, Thirty- 
seventh; Capt. E. Eldridge Wright, Wright’s battery, 
and Capt. Edwin Allen, Company C, Twenty-sixth. 
General Preston recommended for promotion Sergt. 
Frank Battle for conspicuous gallantry. “After four 
color-bearers of the Twentieth had been shot down and 
the regiment was in confusion, he seized the colors and 
bravely rallied the men under my eye. ’ ’ 

It was stated by Maj.-Gen. George H. Thomas, Fed- 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


73 


eral, in his official report of the battle, referring to the 
assault made by Breckinridge: “I sent orders to Negley 
to advance to the support of Crittenden’s troops. This 
order was obeyed in most gallant style and resulted in 
the complete annihilation of the Twenty-sixth Tennessee 
regiment.” But, in fact, the Twenty-sixth, Colonel 
Lillard, with Palmer’s brigade in this attack, left the field 
over 300 strong, in perfect order, in obedience to com¬ 
mand. It had 1 officer and 8 men killed, 71 wounded, and 
17 captured, during the engagements of the 31st of 
December and 2d of January, and was distinguished in 
the subsequent battles of the war. 

Col. Joseph B. Palmer, Sixteenth, afterward brigadier- 
general, a soldier of judgment and undaunted courage, 
three times wounded in this attack, said in his official 
report that “the entire force on the right bank of the 
river was completely routed and driven by our division 
either across or down the stream; but they had massed 
a force of many thousands on the opposite bank, where 
they had a large force of artillery, so located and arranged 
that both their small-arms and batteries could be brought 
to bear upon and rake all the western portion of the field 
over which their troops had been driven. It therefore 
became proper for our forces to withdraw, although they 
had not been repulsed. ’ ’ 

General Rosecrans reported that Breckinridge’s attack 
was upon Van Cleve’s division, supported by a brigade 
of Gen. John M. Palmer’s division. “Breckinridge 
advanced steadily,” says Rosecrans, “to within 100 
yards of the front of Van Cleve, when a short and 
fierce contest ensued. Van Cleve’s division giving 
way, retired in considerable confusion across the river, 
followed closely by the enemy.” The strength of the 
force assailed by Breckinridge, according to the Federal 
return, was 5,221. After Van Cleve’s rout, according to 
Rosecrans, the onset of the Confederates was met by 
“two brigades of Negley’s division and the Pioneer bri- 


74 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


gade;” which, by the return published at that time, 
were 5,520 strong. 

Breckinridge made the assault with a force of 4,500, 
of all arms, and lost 1,700 killed, wounded and missing. 
Among the dead Tennesseeans were the gallant Col. 
P. D. Cunningham, Thirty-second regiment; Capt. John 
Dick and Lieut. Samuel M. Smith, Eighteenth; Capt. 
Edward Allen, Twenty-sixth; Lieuts. J. L. Proffitt and 
J. M. Saylors, Twenty-eighth; Capt. J. W. Watkins 
and Lieut. F. B. Crosthwait, Twentieth. Seven of the 
ten captains of the Eighteenth; Lieut.-Col. J. L. Bottles 
and Maj. R. M. Saffell, Twenty-sixth; Adjt. John M. 
Douglass and Sergt.-Maj. Fletcher R. Burns, Eighteenth, 
were wounded. Colonel Palmer stated that after five 
color-bearers of the Eighteenth had been shot down, 
“Logan H. Nelson, a private soldier of Company C, gal¬ 
lantly sprang forward, raised the flag from the side of 
dying comrades and carried it triumphantly throughout 
the combat.” Maj. F. Claybrooke, Twentieth, reported 
that four of his “color-bearers were shot, and the flag¬ 
staff twice shot in two and the colors riddled by balls. ” 

On the 1 st of January, General Wheeler, with his own 
and Wharton’s cavalry, returned to the rear of the Fed¬ 
eral army. He dispersed the guards of a large train near 
Lavergne, destroyed a number of wagons and stores 
and captured one piece of artillery. At 9 o’clock of the 
evening of the same day he again went to the rear of the 
enemy, capturing trains of wagons, horses and prisoners, 
and regained his position at 2 o’clock of the next morning 
on the left flank of the army, where he remained all day, 
engaging the enemy at every opportunity. At 9 o’clock 
that evening he made his fourth sortie to the rear of the 
enemy, and next morning, the 3d, captured prisoners, 
wagons and horses. On regaining his position on the left 
flank on the morning of the 4th, he learned that General 
Bragg had fallen back. At 3 o’clock p. m. of the 4th, 
Rosecrans advanced to the river and commenced a skir- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


75 


mish. After dark he retired a short distance. The 
cavalry pickets were not molested during the night. At 
daylight on the 5th, General Wheeler retired three miles 
from Murfreesboro; at 3 p. m. the Federals advanced 
a brigade of infantry, with artillery and cavalry, but 
were driven back. In his report General Wheeler included 
Capt. Richard McCann of Tennessee, commanding a 
detachment, among those of whom he said, “during the 
many engagements incident to the battle of Murfrees¬ 
boro, I take pleasure* in commending their gallantry and 
good soldierly conduct. ’ ’ 

General Rosecrans, commanding the Federal army at 
Murfreesboro, reported his strength at 46,940 officers 
and men of all arms; killed and wounded, 8,778; lost by 
capture, 2,800; but the revised statement accompanying 
his report shows that he lost 3,673 captured by the Con¬ 
federates, a total of 12,451; and a loss of 28 pieces of 
artillery, 3 battery wagons and 5 forges was admitted. 
General Rosecrans reported a reserve of 7,495 at Nash¬ 
ville, 3,550 at Gallatin, and nearly 4,000 at Bowling 
Green and Clarksville. Maj. W. K. Beard, inspector- 
general on the staff of General Bragg, made an official 
report in which he accounted for 6,273 prisoners captured 
at Murfreesboro. 

Colonel Brent, adjutant-general on the staff of Gen¬ 
eral Bragg, reported that we had present and in the 
battle 37,712.officers and men of all arms, including 4,237 
cavalry. Bragg’s loss amounted to 10,266, of which 
9,000 were killed and wounded, and 1,200 of the badly 
wounded, left in the hospitals at Murfreesboro, consti¬ 
tuted the largest part of Rosecrans’ captures. 

Nearly one-third of the army of Tennessee were 
Tennesseeans; many of them fought and fell almost in 
call of their own wives and children; there were no 
holiday soldiers among them and no desertions, and they 
fell back from their homes with a loss of 3,500 killed 
and wounded, nearly half of the entire loss. The great- 


76 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


cst loss of the army was in Cheatham’s division of Ten¬ 
nesseeans, 36 per cent killed and wounded. Johnson’s 
Tennessee brigade, of Cleburne’s division, lost 29^ per 
cent, Palmer’s Tennessee brigade the same, and the 
Tennessee troops in other commands sustained about the 
same loss. 

They fought heroically and were led superbly, took the 
enemy’s positions, his artillery and small-arms and many 
prisoners, and met the perils of the battlefield, and 
death, with the high-born courage that springs from a 
sense of duty. Yet the commanding general in his offi¬ 
cial report had no word of commendation for them, or 
for the men who led them with so much skill and 
courage. 

Cheatham, the ranking officer of Tennessee, with 
a division of the troops of the State, seemed inspired 
by the fierceness of the battle. He was like Marshal 
Massena, as described by the Emperor Napoleon: “His 
conversation gave few indications of genius, but at 
the first cannon shot his mental energy redoubled, and 
when surrounded by danger his thoughts were clear and 
forcible. In the midst of the dying and the dead, the 
balls sweeping away those who encircled him, he was 
himself, and gave his orders with the greatest coolness 
and precision. ’’ 

The striking feature of this battle is that Rosecrans, 
who led the attacking army, was on the defensive every 
hour of the battle, never pursued an advantage if it was 
won, in the actual fighting was beaten at all points and 
driven from the battlefield with enormous losses. He 
permitted three days to pass, after the battle of the 31st 
of December, without firing a shot, except on the skir¬ 
mish line and to defend himself from the assault of 
Breckinridge on the afternoon of the 2d of January. 

Bragg retired at 2 o’clock a. m. on the morning of the 
4th, and two hours later the cavalry under General 
Wheeler occupied his position, and continued in it until 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


77 


the break of day on the 5th of January. At 4:30 
of that morning, General Rosecrans telegraphed the 
secretary of war, “God has crowned our arms with vic¬ 
tory/’ 


CHAPTER VI. 


TENNESSEEANS IN MISSISSIPPI—AT CHICKASAW BAYOU 
—GREGG’S BRIGADE AT RAYMOND—ONE TENNES¬ 
SEE BRIGADE COMBATS AN ARMY CORPS—THE 
BRIGADES OF REYNOLDS AND VAUGHN AT VICKS¬ 
BURG—THE FIRST REGIMENT PIEAVY ARTILLERY 
—THE STATE’S REPRESENTATION AT PORT HUD¬ 
SON, LA. 


O N the 8th of December, 1862, Major-General Grant, 
from his headquarters at Oxford, Miss., ordered 
Maj.-Gen. W. T. Sherman, then at Memphis, to 
proceed with his forces “down the river to the vicinity of 
Vicksburg, and with the cooperation of the gunboat 
fleet, under command of Flag-Officer Porter, proceed to the 
reduction of that place.” Accordingly, on Christmas, 
Sherman’s forces, 32,000 strong, with the whole Federal 
naval squadron of the Mississippi, ironclads and wooden 
boats, were at the mouth of the Yazoo. On the 26th the 
land and naval forces proceeded up the river twelve 
miles to the point selected for debarkation. On landing, 
Sherman moved his army out in four columns and 
ordered working parties to unload from his transports 
“all things necessary for five days’ operations,” this 
being considered ample time to enable him to execute 
General Grant’s order. Sherman’s plan was by a prompt 
and concentrated movement to break the Confederate 
center near Chickasaw bayou. 

On the 29th of December the assault was made with 
the division commanded by Gen. George W. Morgan, 
together with the brigades of Blair and Thayer of Steele’s 
division; but, according to Sherman’s report, his forces 
“met so withering a fire from the rifle-pits, and cross-fire 


78 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


79 


of grape and canister, that the column faltered and 
finally fell back, leaving many dead, wounded and pris¬ 
oners in the hands of the enemy.” General Morgan 
reported a loss of 1,652 killed, wounded and missing in 
the assaulting column. “When the night of the 29th 
closed in,” said Sherman, “we had suffered a repulse;” 
and realizing his complete failure, with some pathos he 
added, “but it is for other minds to devise the way” to 
take Vicksburg and Dromgoole’s Bluff 01 the Yazoo. 
Following his repulse and defeat, his troops were 
embarked on board the transports and retired to Milli- 
ken’s bend. 

The Tennessee regiments which participated in this 
decisive victory were the Third, Col. Calvin J. Clack; 
Thirtieth, Col. James J. Turner; Sixty-second (Eightieth), 
Col. J. A. Rowan; Sixtieth, Col. John H. Crawford, 
and Eighty-first. The last three regiments constituted 
the brigade of Gen. John C. Vaughn, who reported a 
loss of 9 killed and 9 wounded, and declared that 
officers and men held their position “with steadiness and 
nerve.” Lieut.-Gen. J. C. Pemberton, commanding the 
Confederate forces, reported that on the left, commanded 
by Brig.-Gen. John C. Vaughn, the heavy abatis pre¬ 
vented the approach of the enemy except with sharp¬ 
shooters, who advanced continuously, but were met firmly 
by his East Tennesseeans; and referring to the assault 
made by the brigade of F. P. Blair, he said: “The 
Third, Thirtieth and Sixtieth Tennessee regiments occu¬ 
pied the rifle-pits in front and behaved with distinguished 
coolness and courage.” It was here that the gallant 
Maj. F. M. Tucker and Lieut. James P. Bass, Third 
Tennessee, were killed. Major Tucker stood on top of 
the earthworks, and fell cheering his men to victory. 

General Pemberton called the attention of the war 
department to the Third, Thirtieth and Sixtieth Tennes¬ 
see, “as entitled to the highest distinction,” and in an 
order, dated May 12, 1863, he conferred it upon them by 


80 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 

ordering that “Vicksburg” be inscribed upon their ban¬ 
ners. 

Brig.-Gen. Stephen D. Lee, who ably commanded the 
troops that leceived the assault made by Sherman’s 
forces, said in his official report: “Besides the regiments 
already mentioned for gallantry, I would mention the 
Third, Thirtieth and Sixty-second Tennessee regiments, 
occupying the pits where the enemy made their most 
formidable attack. They displayed coolness and gallantry, 
and their fire was terrific. ” Colonel Turner of the Thir¬ 
tieth and Colonel Clack of the Third, the first as major 
and the other as captain, had received the baptism of fire 
at Fort Donelson. The distinction then won had its 
sequel at Chickasaw Bayou. 

Later in the campaign against Vicksburg, when Grant, 
after various failures, had. landed south of Vicksburg, and 
advanced to the railroad between Jackson and Vicksburg, 
a Tennessee brigade, under Brig.-Gen. John Gregg, 
which had been on duty at Port Hudson, and was ordered 
thence to Jackson, made a memorable fight against great 
odds. 

Gregg’s brigade consisted of the Third Tennessee, Col. 
C. H. Walker; Tenth and Thirtieth Tennessee (consol¬ 
idated), Col. Randall W. MacGavock; Forty-first, Col. 
R. Farquharson; Fiftieth, Lieut.-Col. T. W. Beaumont; 
First battalion, Maj. S. H. Colms; and the Seventh 
Texas, Col. H. B. Granbury. 

Under the order of Lieutenant-General Pemberton, 
this brigade left its camp near Jackson, on the evening of 
the nth of May, 1863, and camped that night at Ray¬ 
mond. Without definite information or adequate means 
of obtaining it, no course was left to General Gregg but 
to await the movements of the enemy. General Pem¬ 
berton had “intimated” that the main movement of the 
enemy was towards Edwards depot, but at 10 o’clock a. m. 
of the next day a Federal force moved up rapidly and 
opened with artillery upon Gregg’s pickets. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


81 


General Gregg, misled by the information received 
from General Pemberton, made his dispositions to cap¬ 
ture a brigade of the enemy; but instead of a brigade, 
encountered Logan’s division. He was attacked by 
three brigades commanded by Brig.-Gens. John E. 
Smith, E. S. Dennis and John D. Stevenson, with three 
batteries, and a considerable force of cavalry. Besides 
all these, General Crocker’s Seventh division was hurried 
into position to support Logan, and finally the whole 
Seventh army corps, 23,749 strong, commanded by Maj.- 
Gen. John B. McPherson, was disposed for battle. This 
great array was met by General Gregg with an aggregate 
present of 2,500 officers and men, including Bledsoe’s 
Missouri battery of three guns, one of which burst dur¬ 
ing the action. 

General McPherson reported that after “a sharp and 
severe contest of three hours’ duration” the Confederates 
were driven back. General Logan referred to the battle 
as a “terrible conflict” that “raged with great fury for at 
least two hours.” The marvel is that Gregg, fighting 
almost ten times his number of veteran troops, under the 
ablest leadership in the Federal army, could have held 
his position for thirty minutes. He was absolutely 
isolated, no reinforcements expected; but he maintained 
himself for three hours against great odds. The dis¬ 
cipline of his troops was almost perfect, their courage 
was equal to the great trial to which they were sub 
jected, their regimental commanders were officers of 
great intelligence and gallantry, and Gregg’s generalship 
was inimitable. No wonder that McPherson reported 
that he had fought 6,000 troops. Lieutenant-Colonel 
Davis, commanding the Twenty-third Indiana, declared 
that he was attacked upon his right and front by the 
enemy in column, consisting of four lines, and added 
that the Confederates “opened fire from each line in 
succession” and continued to advance on him “until they 
were within bayonet reach. Not having time to fix our 

Tenn 6 


82 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


bayonets, we attempted to beat them back with our 
muskets, but being overpowered by numbers we were 
obliged to fall back” across a creek, where he succeeded 
in holding his position for an hour and a half, and until 
the Confederates retired. 

The activity and courage of the Confederates caused 
officers of yet higher rank to overestimate their strength. 
Brig.-Gen. John D. Stevenson, explaining the disaster to 
the Third Missouri, reported that “the regiment, being 
at the base of a hill held by the enemy (the Confederates), 
resolutely advanced to take possession of it, and whilst 
under a most terrific fire, was ordered by the command¬ 
ing officer to retreat, and retired in great disorder and 
with heavy loss, the enemy in front consisting of three 
regiments.” These “three regiments” were the Tenth 
and Thirtieth Tennessee (consolidated), not over 300 
strong, commanded by Lieut.-Col. James J. Turner. In 
the latter’s report he stated that he “ordered the whole 
command to cheer and yell and charge the enemy at a 
double-quick. At them they went, yelling like savages. 
The enemy stood still and delivered one volley and then 
broke in utter confusion, and attempted but once to rally 
on their colors, when we came up within thirty steps, 
killed their color-bearer, and the rout was complete.” 
Turner pushed on 600 yards, and then observing troops 
in reserve, retired to the crest of the hill from which the 
Third Missouri had vainly attempted to drive him. 

The Third Tennessee and Seventh Texas were, said 
General Gregg, “in the most trying part of the engage¬ 
ment, ” receiving assault after assault for more than two 
hours from superior numbers, and finally retired from a 
flanking fire and a threatened movement in their rear to 
their original position. The Forty-first Tennessee went 
to their relief, and rendered the two regiments a great 
service in protecting their retreat. Colm’s battalion 
was engaged on the right and prevented the enemy from 
throwing a force between Gregg and the town of Ray- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


83 


mond. Later, the Forty-first was sent to support the 
Tenth, Thirtieth and Fiftieth Tennessee, hotly engaged 
on Gregg’s left, but receiving a dispatch from Colonel 
Adams, of the cavalry, that the enemy had a large sup¬ 
porting force advancing, the brigade was ordered to with¬ 
draw. This, General Gregg said, was effected in admir¬ 
able order. No pursuit was made, and the command was 
camped for the night five miles from the battlefield. 

The Federal forces lost 322 officers and men killed, 
wounded and captured; the Confederates, 231 officers and 
men killed and wounded, and 186 captured. Among the 
killed were Capt. R. T. Cooper and Lieut. W. W. Rut¬ 
ledge, Third Tennessee; Col. Randall W. MacGavock, 
and Lieut. John Ames, Tenth Tennessee; Capt. Abner 
S. Boone, Forty-first Tennessee. Lieutenant-Colonel 
Beaumont, Fiftieth Tennessee, was wounded in the head 
by a rifle ball and for a time disabled during the action, 
but his wound was dressed and he returned to his regi¬ 
ment. Colonel MacGavock, who was killed while gal¬ 
lantly urging his command to the conflict, and was suc¬ 
ceeded by Lieutenant-Colonel Turner, was referred to as 
a brave and meritorious officer and an educated and tal¬ 
ented gentleman. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, command¬ 
ing the department, mentioned his loss with much regret. 
Gregg’s brigade continued with the forces under General 
Johnston during the siege of Vicksburg and participated 
in the operations for the relief of that city, and the 
defense of Jackson. 

Two other Tennessee brigades in Mississippi were 
attached to the forces under the immediate command of 
General Pemberton. One, under Col. A. W. Reynolds, 
consisted of the Forty-third Tennessee, Col. J. W. Gil¬ 
lespie; Thirty-first, Col. W. M. Bradford; Third (pro¬ 
visional army), Col. N. J. Lillard, and Fifty-ninth, Col. 
W. L. Eakin. They left Edwards depot, on the Jack- 
son railroad, on the night of May 15, 1863, as the rear 
guard of Pemberton’s army then marching in the direc- 


84 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


tion of Raymond, Miss. On the following morning the 
brigade, after a sharp skirmish with the enemy, was 
relieved by S. D. Lee’s brigade, and went forward by 
Gen. C. L. Stevenson’s order to guard his trains to Vicks¬ 
burg, halting and skirmishing occasionally with the 
enemy. The brigade reached its destination on the 17th, 
and went into position on the lines. 

On the 18th of May the brigade was assigned position on 
the left of Barton’s brigade, which held the Confederate 
right, the left resting on the Hall’s ferry road, the right 
of Cumming’s brigade. The Thirty-first, Fifty-ninth 
and five companies of the Third were assigned to the 
ditches; and the Forty-third and the remainder of the 
Third were held in reserve. Here for forty-seven days 
these brave sons of Tennessee endured the rain and heat 
of summer, living on half rations, half clad, daily under 
fire, without a murmur, says the brigade commander, 
and bore themselves with constancy and courage. 

On the 29th of May the enemy drove in the picket 
line; but after nightfall the Tennesseeans drove them 
back and the line was re-established. On the 1st of June 
the enemy established a battery 800 yards in front of the 
brigade. This was soon silenced by Capt. F. D. Clai¬ 
borne’s battery of field pieces, but on the night of June 
4th the enemy established a battery of four guns of 
heavy caliber in front of the Tennesseeans. The fire 
from these guns was constant from the 5th of June until 
the surrender on the 4th of July. On the 9th of June 
another battery of 20-pounder Parrott guns was mounted 
in front of the Tennesseeans, within 400 yards of their 
line, our pickets having been gradually withdrawn. The 
enemy advanced to a point 75 yards distant, and there 
constructed works stronger than those occupied by our 
troops, these intrenchments being continuous along the 
brigade front. The enemy’s sharpshooters maintained 
a constant fire, and the exposure of the person was fatal. 
Frequent successful sorties were made at night, but the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


85 


force of the enemy was so superior in numbers that it 
was impossible to hold a position after it was won. 

On the 22d of May, says the same authority, the Forty- 
third Tennessee reinforced the line held by Gen. Stephen 
D. Lee, and gallantly assisted in the repulse of the 
enemy. In this action Capt. Sterling Turner was killed; 
Asst. Surgeon W. B. Johnson, while attending the 
wounded, received a mortal wound; Lieut.-Col. David 
M. Key was seriously wounded, and before his recovery 
was stricken with malarial fever, but he recovered after 
a long and doubtful illness. Now in the evening of his 
days, he enjoys the greatest consideration from his 
friends and the public, after bearing with honorable dis¬ 
tinction the highest civic honors. Colonel Key had 
drilled and disciplined the regiment under the direction of 
the noble Gillespie, and made it one of the best in the 
service. 

On the night of June 21st, Capt. A. J. Canood of the 
Forty-third, with 59 men, part of his own company and 
a detachment from Captain Wiseman’s company, was 
ordered to assault an intrenched outpost in front of 
Barkuloo’s Georgia regiment. He captured it but could 
not hold it. Twenty-three of his force were killed and 
wounded, the gallant Canood received a mortal wound, 
Lieutenant Cruikshank was killed, and Captain Wiseman 
severely wounded. On the following night, Capt. W. H. 
McKamy of the Forty-third, with 47 men, assaulted and 
carried the same work, but he lost 27 of his command in 
killed and wounded, and the courageous captain was, 
severely wounded and disabled for life. 

The Forty-third was 900 strong when it entered Vicks¬ 
burg, but forty-seven days of exposure to the burning sun, 
drenching rains, thick fogs, heavy dews, and the enemy’s 
guns, reduced it to less than half. Its beautiful banner, pre¬ 
sented by the ladies of Mt. Sterling, Ky., could show 972 
bullet-holes when it was lowered on the 4th of July. 

The Third (provisional army), Thirty-ninth and Fifty- 


86 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ninth were conspicuous for their valor and endurance. 
The men of the Thirty-ninth were naval heroes as 
well as soldiers. In February, 1863, three companies were 
detached and ordered down the Mississippi on a steam 
ferryboat armed with two field pieces, to watch the move¬ 
ments of the gunboat Queen of the West, which had 
passed our batteries. They proceeded up Red river and 
captured the gunboat. Then an expedition was fitted 
out under Maj. J. L. Brent, and the men of the Thirty- 
ninth assisted in manning the Queen of the West and 
steamer Webb. Ascending the river, they met and cap¬ 
tured, after a desperate conflict, the ironclad Indianola, 
with her stores and 112 prisoners. Major Brent, com¬ 
manding the expedition, made honorable mention of Cap¬ 
tain Carnes and Lieuts. H. A. Rice and Henry Miller, 
of the Thirty-ninth. During the siege this regiment lost 
20 men killed and wounded. 

Brig.-Gen. John C. Vaughn, of Tennessee, commanded 
a brigade consisting of the Sixtieth Tennessee, Capt. 
J. W. Bachman; Sixty-first, Lieut.-Col. James G. Rose, 
and Sixty-second, Col. John A. Rowan. On May 16th, 
while the disastrous battle of Baker’s Creek was pend¬ 
ing, Vaughn’s brigade was ordered to protect the rail¬ 
road bridge over Big Black river in rear of Pember¬ 
ton’s line. The entire command in retreat crossed the 
bridge, yet Vaughn, in momentary expectation of orders 
to follow, continued to defend a crossing no longer 
useful. 

After daylight next day, Osterhaus’ division of the 
Federal army assaulted the faithful guard of Tennessee¬ 
ans. Colonel Rose counted seventeen regimental flags 
passing to his front. After a fierce struggle the enemy 
gained an open space enfilading Vaughn’s entire line, 
and the position being no longer tenable, a retreat was 
ordered. The assault of Osterhaus was almost exclu¬ 
sively on the Sixty-first, which met it bravely and with 
the free use of buckshot and ball, so that the Federals 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


87 


faltered, halted and only advanced under the pressure of 
the columns in the rear. The brave Sixty-first was 
almost annihilated; out of 400 who answered to roll-call 
in the early morning, Colonel Rose led but 112 back to 
Vicksburg that evening. The Ninth and Fourteenth 
divisions of the Thirteenth army corps, which assailed 
the Sixty-first, lost 279 killed, wounded and missing. 

During the siege of Vicksburg, General Vaughn made 
daily reports of his operations, one day recording one 
wounded in the Sixtieth; the next day one in the Sixtieth, 
two in the Sixty-second; the next and the next, one killed 
in the Sixtieth, one in the Sixty-second, one in the Sixty- 
first—repeating this pathetic story from day to day until 
the surrender on the 4th of July. 

Another gallant command was the First Tennessee regi¬ 
ment of heavy artillery, Col. Andrew Jackson, Jr., Lieut. - 
Col. Robert Sterling, Maj. F. W. Hoadley. The regiment 
was composed of the companies of Captains Dismukes, 
Weyland, Norman, Parks, J. B. Caruthers, T. N. Johnston 
and J. P. Lynch. The upper batteries from Fort Hill to 
the upper bayou were worked by the Tennessee artillery. 
After the investment of the city, May 18th, unsuccessful 
attacks on the batteries were daily made for the next 
week. Col. Edward Higgins, chief of artillery, reports 
that on the morning of the 27th of May the enemy’s 
ironclad gunboat Cincinnati, mounting 14 guns, was 
observed approaching our upper batteries, while four 
ironclads approached the lower batteries. In the engage¬ 
ment, which resulted in the complete repulse of the 
enemy and the sinking of the Cincinnati, great credit 
was accorded to Capts. J. P. Lynch and T. N. Johnston, 
of the First. Daily for the next month these batteries 
were subjected to a constant fire, and our loss was 
severe. Among the killed was Maj. F. W. Hoadley, 
First Tennessee, commanding the upper water battery, 
of whom Colonel Higgins said: “This battery was 
exposed constantly to an unceasing fire of mortars, Par- 


88 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


rott guns and sharpshooters. The gallant major was 
always at his post and fell with his face to the foe, struck 
in the breast by the fragment of a shell. ’ ’ Among the 
officers who most distinguished themselves by their gal¬ 
lantry and unceasing vigilance during the siege was, 
according to the same authority, “Colonel Jackson, First 
Tennessee artillery, who with his gallant regiment bore 
the brunt of the labors and dangers of the siege, and was 
always ready, day or night, for any duty to which he 
might be called.” In this high commendation he 
included Lieutenant-Colonel Sterling and Captains 
Lynch and Johnston of the same regiment. 

On the 25th of May, Maj.-Gen. N. P. Banks, with 
an army of 20,000 men, invested Port Hudson, La., 
where Maj.-Gen. Franklin Gardner was in command of 
the Confederate forces, and after thorough preparation 
this fortified post was assailed by Banks’ army and the 
fleet commanded by Admiral Farragut. General Banks 
anticipated the easy capture of the garrison, but he met 
a determined resistance and was signally defeated, with a 
loss of 293 killed and 1,549 wounded. On the 10th and 
14th of June, assaults were again made without success; 
and after the last attack, becoming convinced that he 
could not carry the works by assault, Banks set about the 
slower operations of a siege, making approaches and 
skirmishing from day to day, aided actively by the fleet. 
Farragut maintained the fire from his mortar guns during 
the whole of every night, the only injury inflicted on 
the Confederates being banished sleep and the forcing of 
our artillery officers and men to constant watchfulness 
without relief. During the day the besieging army kept 
up an active artillery fire. 

This continued from the 25th of May to the 8th of 
July, when General Gardner surrendered his command 
as prisoners of war. General Gardner, in commending 
his men for their gallantry and constant labors in the 
defense, stated that his surrender was not on account of 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


89 


the fall of Vicksburg or the want of provisions or ammu¬ 
nition, but from the exhaustion of his men, who had 
been without rest for more than six weeks. 

The First Tennessee heavy artillery, Company G, 
Capt. James A. Fisher; the First light artillery, Com¬ 
pany B, Lieut. Oswald Tilghman; the improvised Ten¬ 
nessee battalion, Capt. S. A. Whiteside, composed of 
details from the Forty-first, Forty-second, Forty-eighth, 
Forty-ninth, Fifty-third and Fifty-fifth Tennessee regi¬ 
ments, were all constantly engaged, and rendered services 
of great value. At all hours under the fire of Farragut’s 
fleet, they lost only 4 killed and 6 wounded. Among the 
killed was Lieut. Thomas B. Cooke, of the heavy artillery. 

The only published report of the siege by a Confed¬ 
erate officer was made by Capt. C. M. Jackson, of the 
staff of General Gardner. He informed General John¬ 
ston, on the 9th of July, that provisions were exhausted, 
and that it was impossible to cut a way out on account of 
the proximity of the enemy’s works. Our casualties 
during the siege were 200 killed, and between 300 and 
400 wounded. At the time of surrender there were only 
2,500 men for duty. Banks reported to General Halleck 
that he had “not more than 14,000 effective men.” He 
lost 706 killed, 3,145 wounded and 307 captured. 


CHAPTER VII. 


CAMPAIGN IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE—BRAGG RETIRES 
TO CHATTANOOGA—BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA— 
PART OF TENNESSEEANS IN THE GREAT VICTORY- 
OPPRESSION OF THE PEOPLE. 

A FTER a delay of six months, General Rosecrans 
placed his army in motion in June, 1863. His 
equipments and appointments were as thorough 
and complete as the unlimited resources of his govern¬ 
ment could make them; his force was ample, his supplies 
abundant; but his experience at Murfreesboro had made 
him and his corps commanders timid and hesitating in 
their advance. 

General Bragg determined to offer battle in front of 
Shelbyville, and ordered Lieutenant-General Polk to 
move his army corps to Guy’s gap on the Murfreesboro 
road, and assail the enemy before Liberty gap; but 
learning that the left of Major-General Stewart’s divi¬ 
sion, stationed between Fairfield and Hoover’s gap, had 
been turned, he decided to withdraw the army of Ten¬ 
nessee to Tullahoma. 

This flank attack was made by the Federal corps 
commanded by Maj.-Gen. George H. Thomas, and was 
met by Bushrod Johnson’s, Clayton’s and Bate’s bri¬ 
gades, of Stewart’s division, and Liddell’s and Wood’s 
brigades, of Cleburne’s division, Hardee’s corps. General 
Bragg, under date of July 3d, referred to these engage¬ 
ments as “a series of skirmishes,” but they were contin¬ 
uous from the 24th to the 27th of June, and Johnson’s 
brigade sustained a loss of 36, and Bate’s a loss of 145, 
killed and wounded, out of 650 engaged. Among the 
killed was the gallant Maj. Fred Claybrooke, Twentieth 


90 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


91 


Tennessee, greatly distinguished at Murfreesboro. Among 
the wounded reported were Capt. J. A. Pettigrew and 
Adjt. James W. Thomas, of the Twentieth, and Maj. 
Thomas Kennedy Porter, acting chief of artillery on the 
staff of Major-General Stewart. 

On the morning of the 27th the troops named retired 
under orders to Tullahoma, where General Bragg con¬ 
centrated the army of Tennessee, talcing position and 
determining to risk a battle; but the enemy pressed 
back his troops on the Manchester and Hillsboro road, 
and his communications with his base were temporarily 
destroyed. His health was very poor, and his corps com¬ 
manders believing, as stated by General Hardee in a 
published letter, that he was not able “to take command 
in the field,” advised him to retire. Acting upon this 
advice, the army abandoned Tullahoma, and on the 30th 
of June began the retreat, reaching Chattanooga on the 
7th of Jnly. Not a gun, or stores of any kind, was lost, 
and Polk’s corps, largely composed of Middle and West 
Tennessee troops, was 400 stronger than when it retired 
from Shelbyville. 

After resting at Chattanooga during the months of July 
and August, General Bragg, having received reinforce¬ 
ments of two small divisions from Mississippi, increasing 
the strength of the army, exclusive of cavalry, to 35,000, 
determined to attack the advancing enemy whenever an 
opportunity was offered. Without ability to garrison 
Chattanooga, the place was abandoned on the 7th and 
8th of September, and the army took position from Lee 
& Gordon’s mills to Lafayette in Georgia. Rosecrans 
immediately occupied the town and pushed forward in 
pursuit of Bragg, assuming that he was in retreat on 
Rome, but on the 10th discovered that the Confederate 
army was being concentrated about Lafayette. The Fed¬ 
eral army was then at Gordon’s mill, Bailey’s cross-roads, 
at the foot of Stevens’ gap, and at Alpine, a distance of 
miles from flank to flank. General Bragg, who 


40 


92 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


had so far conducted his campaign with great skill, made 
prompt dispositions to crush McCook’s corps, and failing 
in that, to assail Crittenden’s corps; but disappointed in 
his reasonable expectations, he began a concentration of 
his army that culminated in the great battle of Chicka- 
mauga. 

For this greatest battle of the West, more Tennessee 
organizations were united on the field than ever before. 
The flower of the State were there, resolved upon victory 
and the redemption of their homes. 

General Cheatham’s division was now composed of his 
four Tennessee brigades, commanded by Brig.-Gens. 
Preston Smith, George Maney, Marcus J. Wright and 
Otho F. Strahl, the Georgia and Mississippi brigade of 
John K. Jackson, and the artillery battalion of Maj. 
Melancthon Smith. 

Smith’s brigade included the Eleventh regiment, Col. 
George W. Gordon; Twelfth and Forty-seventh, Col. 
William M. Watkins; Thirteenth and One Hundred and 
Fifty-fourth, Col. A. J. Vaughan; Twenty-ninth, Col. 
Horace Rice, and Maj. J. W. Dawson’s battalion of 
sharpshooters. 

In Maney’s brigade were the First and Twenty-seventh, 
Col. Hume R. Feild; Fourth (Confederate), Col. James 
A. McMurry; Sixth and Ninth, Col. George C. Porter, 
battalion of sharpshooters, Maj. Frank Maney. 

General Strahl had the old brigade of A. P. Stewart, 
the Fourth and Fifth regiments, Col. Jonathan J. Lamb; 
Nineteenth, Col. Francis M. Walker; Twenty-fourth, 
Col. John A. Wilson; Thirty-first, Col. Egbert E. Tansil; 
Thirty-third, Col. Warner P. Jones. 

The brigade of General Wright, formerly Donelson’s, 
comprised the Eighth regiment, Col. John H. Anderson; 
Sixteenth, Col. D. M. Donnell; Twenty-eighth, Col. 
Sidney S. Stanton; Thirty-eighth and Maj. T. B. Mur¬ 
ray’s battalion, Col. John C. Carter; Fifty-first and Fifty- 
second, Lieut.-Col. John G. Hall. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


93 


Maj. Melancthon Smith’s battalion was composed of 
Capt. W. W. Carnes’ Tennessee battery, Scogins’ 
Georgia battery, Capt. W. L. Scott’s Tennessee battery, 
and Smith’s and Stanford’s Mississippi batteries. 

The divisions of Breckinridge and Cleburne were under 
the corps command of Lieut.-Gen. D. H. Hill, and with 
Cleburne, in Gen. Lucius E. Polk’s brigade, were the 
Third and Fifth (Confederate) Tennessee, Col. J. A. 
Smith; Second, Col. William D. Robison; Thirty-fifth, 
Col. B. J. Hill; Forty-eighth, Col. George H. Nixon, 
constituting four-fifths of the brigade. Capt. John W. 
Mebane’s battery was a part of Graves’ battalion, Breck¬ 
inridge’s division. 

A. P, Stewart, promoted to major-general, commanded 
a division of Buckner’s corps that was mainly composed 
of Tennesseeans. The Seventeenth, Lieut.-Col. Watt W. 
Floyd; Twenty-third, Col. R. H. Keeble; Twenty-fifth, 
Lieut.-Col. R. B. Snowden, and Forty-fourth, Lieut.- 
Col. John L. McEwen, Jr., constituted Bushrod R. John¬ 
son’s brigade of this division, under Col. John S. Fulton. 
The Fifteenth and Thirty-seventh, Col. R. C. Tyler, and 
Twentieth, Col. Thomas B. Smith, made up half of the 
brigade of Gen. William B. Bate. The Eighteenth, Col. 
Joseph B. Palmer; Twenty-sixth, Col. John M. Lillard; 
Thirty-second, Col. Edmund C. Cook; Forty-fifth, Col. 
Anderson Searcy, and Twenty-third battalion, Maj. 
Tazewell W. Newman, formed Gen. John C. Brown’s 
brigade. Capt. J. W. Clark’s cavalry company was 
escort to General Buckner. 

William Preston’s division of the same corps (Buck¬ 
ner’s) included the Sixty-third regiment, Lieut.-Col. 
Abraham Fulkerson, in Gracie’s brigade and the battery 
of Capt. Edmund D. Baxter was in the battalion of 
reserve artillery commanded by Maj. Samuel C. 
Williams. 

Brig.-Gen. Bushrod Johnson commanded a provisional 
division, to which was assigned Gen. John Gregg's bri- 


04 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


gade, the Third regiment, Col. Calvin H. Walker; Tenth, 
Col. William Grace; Thirtieth, Lieut.-Col. James J. 
Turner; Forty-first, Lieut.-Col. James D. Tillman; Fifti¬ 
eth, Col. Cyrus A. Sugg; First battalion, Maj. Stephen 
H. Colins, and the Seventh Texas. General Johnson 
acted under orders from Lieut.-Gen. James Longstreet. 

Brig.-Gen. Nathan B. Forrest was in command of a 
cavalry corps of two divisions, under Gens. Frank C. 
Armstrong and John Pegram. 

In Armstrong’s division were his brigade, under Col. 
James T. Wheeler, including the Eighteenth Tennessee 
battalion, Maj. Charles McDonald; and Forrest’s brigade, 
under Col. George G. Dibrell, made up of the Fourth 
Tennessee regiment, Col. William S. McLemore; Eighth, 
Capt. Hamilton McGinnis; Ninth, Cob Jacob B, Biffle; 
Tenth, Col. Nicholas N, Cox; Eleventh, Col. Daniel W. 
Holman; Shaw’s and O. P. Hamilton’s battalions and 
R. D. Allison’s squadron, consolidated, under Maj. 
Joseph Shaw, and the batteries of Capt. A. L. Huggins 
and John W. Morton, Jr. 

In Pegram’s division the Tennessee organizations 
were Col. E. W. Rucker’s Tennessee legion and Capt. 
Gustave A. Huwald’s battery, of Gen. H. B. Davidson’s 
brigade; and the Second regiment, Col. H. M. Ashby, 
and Fifth, Col. G. W. McKenzie, of Col. John S. Scott’s 
brigade. 

Capt. J. C. Jackson’s company was escort to General 
Forrest. 

The Fourth cavalry, Lieut. -Col. Paul F. Anderson, and 
the battery of Capt. B. F. White, Jr., were with Harri¬ 
son’s brigade, Wharton’s division, Wheeler’s cavalry. 

General Bragg assigned the right wing of the army to 
Lieutenant-General Polk, and the left wing to Lieut.- 
Gen. James Longstreet, who had arrived from Virginia 
with a part of his army corps. On the night of Septem¬ 
ber 17, 1863, the commanding general issued orders to 
his forces to cross the Chickamauga river, the movement 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


95 


to begin at 6 o'clock on the following morning, by the 
extreme right, at Reed’s bridge. The resistance offered 
by the enemy’s cavalry, and the narrow country roads, 
delayed the advance until late in the afternoon. The 
movement forward was resumed at daylight on the 19th, 
and Buckner’s corps and Cheatham’s division crossed and 
formed. The division of Gen. W. H. T. Walker had 
crossed at Byram’s ford after night on the 18th. 

A sharp engagement was opened on the 19th with For¬ 
rest’s cavalry on the extreme right. Wilson’s brigade of 
Walker’s division reinforced Forrest, and soon thereafter 
Walker’s entire division, with Liddell’s, was ordered to 
attack the enemy. Fcrrest, judging the enemy too 
strong for Pegram’s small division and Wilson’s brigade, 
was reinforced by Ector’s brigade, when the enemy was 
driven back and a second battery captured; but a largely 
superior force compelled Forrest to retire. Dibrell’s 
brigade participated in the second advance, dismounted, 
and moved up in line with the veterans of Ector and 
Wilson. 

Rosecrans concluded that his left, held by Thomas’ 
corps, was the chief point of attack, and that Bragg was 
seeking to turn it and gain possession of the Lafayette 
road between him and Chattanooga. Johnson’s division 
of McCook’s corps was sent to the assistance of Thomas, 
whom Crittenden in the meantime had reinforced with 
Palmer’s division. 

Walker attacked this force with his own division and 
Liddell’s, with extraordinary vigor, but was forced back 
for reformation. Cheatham with five brigades was ordered 
to support Walker, but on coming up in supporting dis¬ 
tance, found that he had nothing in his front to support. 
Communicating the condition of the field to the com¬ 
manding general, he was ordered to advance and attack 
the enemy. In his report it appears that his brigade 
commanders were notified that he had no support on his 
right or left. Moving forward he met the enemy advanc- 


96 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ing on Walker’s retiring troops. Jackson at once 
encountered the enemy, and soon the entire line was 
hotly engaged, with the result that the enemy was driven 
back three-quarters of a mile with heavy loss. Then 
taking shelter behind his breastworks, assisted by heavy 
reinforcements, he checked Cheatham’s advance. 

After an engagement of two hours’ duration, the bri¬ 
gades of Jackson and Smith were withdrawn. These two 
brigades had driven the enemy “furiously,” says Gen. 
A. J. Vaughan, 600 or 800 yards before them. General 
Smith reported to the division commander that his ammu¬ 
nition was nearly exhausted, but that he could hold the 
position until his wants were supplied, or until Strahl 
could relieve him. No grander spectacle was ever wit¬ 
nessed than the withdrawal of Smith’s and Jackson’s 
brigades and the substitution of Maney and Strahl, and 
no more dangerous experiment was ever made within 
musket range of an enemy and under a concentrated fire 
of artillery and small-arms. The advancing and retiring 
brigades both moved with unbroken lines and with such 
precision and promptness that the enemy was not, seem¬ 
ingly, sensible of the change. Scogin’s Georgia and 
Scott’s Tennessee batteries were in the advance with 
Jackson and Smith, and were especially distinguished. 
Lieut. John H. Marsh, commanding Scott’s battery, was 
dangerously wounded in the active performance of his 
duty. 

Thomas’ official report shows that he had present for 
duty 21,448 men of all arms, reinforced by two divisions 
stronger than Cheatham’s. Soon Maney and Strahl were 
enveloped by overwhelming numbers in front and on 
both flanks, and after a struggle of unparalleled heroism 
were forced to fall back to their original position on the 
right and left of Turner’s battery. 

The enemy, flushed with his triumph, rushed upon 
Cheatham’s line, coming within short range of the bat¬ 
tery. Turner then opened upon the advancing lines with 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


97 


grape, canister and shell. Cheatham and the officers of 
his staff were with Turner in what seemed the most criti¬ 
cal moment of a soldier’s life. The Federals, in numbers 
that made them look almost irresistible, were about to 
crush him, advancing with shouts of victory, when the 
division general said, “Now, Lieutenant,” and the guns 
opened. The enemy hesitated, halted, doubled one regi¬ 
ment upon another, and then fled in wild disorder, leaving 
the field, as far as eye could reach, covered with dead and 
dying. The grass and dry leaves in front of the battery 
were soon in flames, and many of the Federal wounded 
were subjected to the torture of being roasted to death. 

Turner had long commanded the battery as first lieu¬ 
tenant, and though deficient in expert knowledge, knew 
how to fight his guns. He passed over examining boards 
and was made captain for gallant conduct on the field of 
Chickamauga. Three pieces of Scogin’s Georgia battery 
were engaged at the same time and rendered excellent 
service. But for this repulse, says General Cheatham, 
the enemy would have seized the crossing of the Chicka¬ 
mauga at Alexander’s bridge and Hunt’s ford, and ren¬ 
dered necessary new combinations and new dispositions 
for the battle of the next day. 

During this engagement, Jackson’s brigade took from 
the enemy three pieces of artillery and sent them to the 
rear. Wright’s brigade occupied the left of the division 
line, made a brave fight for two hours and was con¬ 
stantly exposed to a flanking fire, which, growing in vol¬ 
ume, finally forced it to retire. Carnes’ artillery com¬ 
pany, of this brigade, lost half its strength; the gallant 
Lieutenant Van Vleck was killed and most of the battery 
horses. The guns being abandoned on the field, the 
enemy undertook to remove them, but was driven off by 
Cheatham’s division, and the guns remained between 
the contending lines until the subsequent advance of 
Stewart’s division, when they were recovered by Captain 
Carnes. 

Term 7 


98 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


About 2 p. m. General Stewart advanced with three 
brigades—Brown’s, Bate’s and Clayton’s. After an 
engagement of an hour, Clayton withdrew for ammuni¬ 
tion, and his position was occupied by Brown with his 
veteran brigade of Tennesseeans, who advanced rapidly, 
driving the enemy for several hundred yards, routing his 
first line and forcing his second position; but Brown’s 
right was threatened by a heavy force and he was 
ordered to retire. This brigade captured five pieces of 
artillery after killing the gunners and. horses. General 
Stewart reported that they were sent to the rear, and 
that Brown’s left regiment, the Twenty-sixth Tennessee, 
drove the enemy from another battery, but was unable 
to bring off the guns. 

Brown s brigade was relieved by Bate’s, who assailed 
the enemy with great impetuosity, forced him from one 
position after another, losing and recapturing one piece 
of artillery. Clayton’s brigade coming to his support, 
the two drove the enemy for half a mile beyond the 
Chattanooga road, but observing threatening movements 
on their right and left, they were ordered by General 
Stewart to fall back leisurely to the east side of the road. 
In these charges the Fifteenth and Thirty-seventh cap¬ 
tured four pieces of artillery, and the Fifty-eighth Ala¬ 
bama, of Bate’s brigade, participated with Clayton’s bri¬ 
gade in the capture of three others. In the assault on the 
second line of the enemy, Col. J. B. Palmer, Lieutenant- 
Colonel Butler, Major Joiner and Maj. T. W. Newman 
were wounded, and Col. John M. Lillard mortally wounded. 
General Brown said he felt deeply the loss of Colonel 
Palmer’s services on the field, “for with him on the 
right, the gallant Cook in the center, and the brave 
Lillard on the left, I felt the utmost confidence in the 
unwavering steadiness of my line. ’’ In the death of Col¬ 
onel Lillard, he said, the country lost one of her best men 
and bravest soldiers. 

Bushrod Johnson’s division, just organized, consisting 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 99 

of his own Tennessee brigade under Col. John S. Fulton, 
Forty-fourth Tennessee, Gregg’s Tennessee brigade, 
McNair s brigade, and Bledsoe’s Missouri battery, was 
first to cross the Chickamauga at 3 p. m. of the 18th, and 
no other troops, says General Johnson, crossed at any 
point until he “had swept the west bank in front of their 
respective places of crossing. ” He was not seriously 
en g a g e d until 2 p. m. of the 19th, when, his line being 
formed about 1,000 yards west of the road to Chattanooga 
from Lee & Gordon’s mills, his skirmishers were driven 
in. Bledsoe’s and Everett’s batteries opened fire, and 
Culpeper’s battery ot three guns was brought into action 
on Gregg’s left. The enemy advanced on Johnson’s and 
Gregg’s brigades, and were easily repulsed, except on 
Gregg’s left. The Fiftieth here lost 12 killed and 45 
wounded before it moved from its position. Johnson 
pushed his command forward with orders to attack when¬ 
ever opportunity permitted. Robertson’s brigade of 
Hood’s division advanced on the right of the Fiftieth, and 
the enemy was driven back with loss. 

About this time General Gregg ventured out too far in 
front of his brigade to reconnoiter the enemy's position, 
and endeavoring to return was shot through the neck 
and fell from his horse. While the enemy was taking 
his spurs, sword and other valuables from his person, 
Robertson’s Texans dashed forward and gained posses¬ 
sion of the general and his horse, and inflicted serious 
punishment on the enemy. General Johnson, referring 
to the incident, declared that General Gregg was an able 
officer in command of a good brigade. 

Johnson’s brigade, under Colonel Fulton, after advanc¬ 
ing 600 yards received a deadly fire of artillery and mus¬ 
ketry for an hour, but forced the Federals to retire 
beyond the Chattanooga road, where they took cover 
in the woods to the left of a clearing, in which they 
posted their battery. The gallant Lieut.-Col. Robert B. 
Snowden, with the Twenty-fifth and part of the Twenty- 


) > 
> » > 


100 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


third, watching his opportunity, wheeled to the right, 
gained the cover of the fence north of the clearing, fired 
two or three volleys at the battery, and then charged 
and captured it complete. 

The Seventeenth, Third and Forty-first Tennessee, 
slightly in advance of the main line, encountered a force 
of the enemy moving by the flank toward the right of 
the Confederate army, which penetrated the left of the 
line of Johnson, filed off to the left and fired a volley 
into its rear, which caused Fulton to fall back, leaving 71 
officers and men (including Major Davis of the Seven¬ 
teenth) and the captured battery in the hands of the 
enemy. The enemy’s column was then charged by the 
Third and Forty-first Tennessee and repulsed. 

General Johnson reformed his division and bivouacked 
in line for the next day’s battle. His loss was heavy. 
Among the killed was Lieut.-Col. Thomas W. Beaumont, 
Fiftieth Tennessee, a soldier of experience and eminence, 
beloved in Tennessee, a man of intellect and culture and 
practiced in all the graces of life. He died gloriously at 
the head of his regiment. The tribute of Colonel Napier, 
the historian of the Peninsular war, to the brave Colonel 
Ridge of the British army, who fell at the siege of Ba- 
dajos can be extended to Colonel Beaumont: “No man 
died that day with more glory, yet many died, and there 
was much glory.” 

Soon after sunset of the 19th, Cleburne’s division, sup¬ 
ported by Jackson's and Smith's brigades of Cheatham’s 
division, was ordered to attack the enemy, and if possible 
drive back his left wing. The Federals were posted 
behind hastily-constructed breastworks, and received the 
attacking force with a heavy fire of artillery and small- 
arms. Brigadier-General Polk on the right pressed for¬ 
ward, pushing his artillery within 60 yards of the 
enemy’s line, when the latter ceased firing and disap¬ 
peared from Cleburne’s front. The darkness was so 
intense that no attempt was made to advance, and the lines 




CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


101 


were readjusted and the command bivouacked for the 
night with skirmishers a quarter of a mile in advance. 

In this attack a part of Deshler’s brigade fell back in 
some confusion on Smith’s brigade, and when General 
Smith urged them forward, says Gen. A. J. Vaughan in 
his report, instead of going to the front they obliqued to 
the left. In the darkness it was not observed that 
Smith's two right regiments were uncovered, and at a 
halt in his immediate front, General Smith rode forward 
for an explanation of the delay, accosting a line in front, 
which proved to be that of the enemy. He was fired 
upon, and with his aide, Capt. Thomas H. King, was 
killed. At the same time Gen. A. J. Vaughan, then col¬ 
onel of the Thirteenth, was fired upon under similar cir¬ 
cumstances, and the shot intended for him killed the gal¬ 
lant Capt. John Donelson, acting assistant adjutant-gen¬ 
eral. Colonel Vaughn ordered the Thirteenth to fire, and 
the slayer of Donelson paid the penalty with his own life. 
In his official report, General Cheatham said: “In this 
night attack Brig.-Gen. Preston Smith, of Tennessee, 
received a mortal wound, from which he died in fifty min¬ 
utes. At the head of his noble brigade, of which he had 
been the commander as colonel and brigadier-general for 
two years and a half, he fell in the performance of what 
he himself with his expiring breath said was his duty. 
Active, energetic and brave, with a rare fitness for com¬ 
mand, full of honorable ambition in harmony with the 
most elevated patriotism, the State of Tennessee will 
mourn his fall and do honor to his memory. ” 

Colonel Vaughan, commanding the brigade after 
Smith’s fall, reported the capture of 300 prisoners and the 
colors of the Seventy-seventh Pennsylvania regiment, 
sent back to the division commander by Capt. I. B. 
Carthel, Forty-seventh Tennessee. Under a misappre¬ 
hension General Cleburne reported the capture of the 
colors by his own command. 

During the battle of the day and night Cheatham lost 


102 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


1,900 men in killed and wounded, out of a total of 6,578. 
Among the killed was Col. J. A. McMurry of the Fourth 
Confederate. General Maney referred to him as “a gen¬ 
tleman of the noblest qualities and an officer of fine abil¬ 
ities and great gallantry. ’ ’ Lieut. -Col. Robert N. Lewis 
and Maj. Oliver A. Bradshaw, of the same regiment, both 
officers of great merit, were in quick succession severely 
wounded, when the command devolved upon Capt. Joseph 
Bostick. In Turner’s battery, Lieutenant Smith was 
severely wounded and Lieutenant Ingram killed. Both 
shared with Turner the glory won here and at Perryville 
and Murfreesboro. 

The First and Twenty-seventh, on the right of Maney, 
held their position for two hours, as Colonel Feild 
reported, “battling with as many of the enemy as could 
be brought to bear upon us. We occupied the position 
after our ammunition was completely exhausted, and 
then did not retire until the left wing of the brigade had 
been driven from the field by a movement of the enemy 
upon its left flank. We brought from the field a gun of 
one of our batteries (supposed to be Forrest’s) that had 
been abandoned by all but two of its men.” The First 
and Twenty-seventh lost 89 killed and wounded, and the 
Fourth lost 54. Among the dead was Lieut. Thomas B. 
Fitzwilliams, named by Captain Bostick as “the modest 
gentleman, gallant officer, and true soldier. ’ ’ 

The Twenty-fourth battalion of sharpshooters, Maj. 
Frank Maney, already reduced to a skeleton by the cas¬ 
ualties of war, went into action on the left of the Fourth 
Confederate with 39 guns, and only 17 could answer the 
next roll-call. 

Col. George C, Porter, Sixth and Ninth, occupied the 
left of Maney, a position General Maney said was “most 
exposed, and the chances of the day demanded of this 
veteran command a bloody sacrifice.” Porter was 
ordered by the division general, through an officer of his 
staff, to hold his position at all hazards; that help would 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 103 

surely come to his left. He did not care for odds against 
his front, but the enfilading attack on his left caused him 
soon to lose 180 men killed and wounded, out of a total 
present of 335. Help never came, and this broken and 
brave command withdrew in order to avoid capture. 
Lieut. T. F. Ragland was mortally hurt, Maj. J. A. Wil¬ 
der, Capt. P 0 N. Conner, Capts. E. C. Harbert, J. L. 
Hall, Lieuts. J. B. Boyd, William M. Ingram, J. M. 
Withers, J. B. Stanley, N. McMullen, R. J. Dew and 
H. W. Head were wounded, many of them severely. 

Vaughn’s brigade sustained heavy losses. Maj. J. W. 
Dawson, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth, was seriously 
wounded while on duty with the skirmish line; Captain 
Kaneke of the same regiment was killed; Captain Cum¬ 
mings, Twelfth, was seriously injured. 

In the list of killed in Wright's brigade were Captain 
Parks, Sixteenth; Lieutenants Harvey, Murray’s battal¬ 
ion, Wade and Color-bearer Bland, Fifty-first and Fifty- 
second regiments, and Captain Whaley and Lieutenant 
Craig, Twenty-eighth. Among the wounded were Cols. 
John H. Anderson, Eighth; D. M. Donnell, Sixteenth; 
Maj. Thomas G. Randle, Captains Puryear, Cullum and 
Pond, and Lieutenants Cunningham, Leonard, Fiynt and 
Shaw, Eighth; Lieutenants Potter, Owen, Fisher and 
Worthington, Sixteenth; Captain McDonald and Lieu¬ 
tenants Apple, Danley and Taylor, Twenty-eighth; 
Adjutant Caruthers, Lieutenants Banks and Ridout, 
Thirty-eighth; and Captain Burton, Lieutenants Billings, 
Chester, White, Haynie, Tilman, Fifty-first and Fifty- 
second. 

During the battle of the 19th the Twenty-sixth Ten¬ 
nessee wavered for a moment (as reported by General 
Cheatham), and seemed to be in the act of falling back, 
when the intrepid Col. S. S. Stanton seized the colors of 
his regiment and, rushing to the front, called his men to 
follow him. Inspired by this heroic example, the regiment 
reformed on the colors and at once recovered the lost 


104 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ground. While the flag was in the hands of Colonel 
Stanton it was pierced thirty times by the enemy’s balls. 

Strahl’s brigade under its accomplished commander 
could always be trusted to perform the measure of its 
duty. It was hardly engaged before the horses of all the 
field officers’of the three right regiments were killed, and 
Maj. C. W. Heiskell, of the Nineteenth, a very gallant 
officer, was severely wounded. Stanford’s battery 
advanced with this brigade and was actively engaged. 
The Fourth and Fifth had Lieut. W. H. Neffer killed. 
Capt. W. W. Lackay, of the Nineteenth, referred to by 
Colonel Walker as “ a gallant officer, brave soldier, a 
generous and courteous gentleman,” was killed; Captain 
Frazier and Sergeant Thompson were desperately 
wounded. 

General Braggissued orders to attack the enemy at day 
dawn on the 20th, General Polk to assail on the right, and 
the attack to be taken up in succession rapidly to the 
left. Orders were sent at 11130 on the night of the 19th 
by General Polk to Lieutenant-General Hill and Major- 
Generals Cheatham and Walker. Hill could not be found, 
and at daylight orders were sent to Generals Breckin¬ 
ridge and Cleburne of Hill’s corps to advance with their 
divisions at once. The order was received in the pres¬ 
ence of General Hill, who, Breckinridge reports, ordered 
a delay of the movement, and notified General Polk that 
his troops were getting their rations and could not move 
for an hour or more. He had also delayed his attack in 
consequence of a misapprehension on his part as to the 
relation between his line and that of General Cheatham. 
The reasons for delay were unsatisfactory to the com¬ 
manding general, who in time relieved Generals Polk 
and Hill from their commands. 

At 10 a. m. the attack was made by Cleburne and 
Breckinridge, Cheatham by order of General Bragg being 
held in reserve. The attack was taken up by Stewart, 
whose division was on the right of the left wing, and 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


105 


soon the whole army was engaged. General Bragg, in 
his official report, says “the attack on the left met with 
less resistance, much of the enemy's strength having 
been transferred to our right.” 

In the first advance of Cleburne, Wood’s brigade lost 
500 men killed and wounded in a few minutes, and the 
brigade was withdrawn. L. E. Polk’s left had in turn 
been driven back, and his entire brigade was ordered to 
retire. Breckinridge, after a fierce combat at close quar¬ 
ters, routed the first line of the enemy, but found it 
impossible to break the second, and retired to his original 
position. Finally, another advance was ordered and 
Breckinridge dashed over the enemy’s breastworks in 
his front, though the enemy made a stubborn resistance. 
In this assault he had the co-operation of Jackson’s, 
Maney’s and Wright’s brigades of Cheatham’s division. 

Cleburne’s attack was upon the point from which he 
had been repulsed in the forenoon. Lucius E. Polk’s 
brigade, mainly Tennesseeans, charged and carried the 
northwestern angle of the enemy’s breastworks, taking 
in succession three lines. The enemy fled precipitately 
and was pursued to the Chattanooga and Lafayette road. 
In his official report General Cleburne said of General 
Polk: “ It is due to him and to the country which wishes 
to appreciate its faithful servants, to say that to the intre¬ 
pidity and stern determination of purpose of himself and 
men I was principally indebted for the success of the 
charge on Sunday evening, which drove the enemy from 
his breastworks and gave us the battle.” During this 
advance Lieut. W. B. Richmond, aide-de-camp to Lieu¬ 
tenant-General Polk, was killed; an active and efficient 
officer, invaluable to his chief. 

Major-General Stewart attacked with Brown’s brigade 
of Tennesseeans, advancing with Wood’s brigade. Clay¬ 
ton was moved up, and Bate placed in line with him. 
The front line, says General Stewart, met “the most ter¬ 
rific fire it has ever been my fortune to witness.” Wood 


106 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY . 


broke in confusion, exposing Brown to an enfilading fire. 
The latter advanced still further, when his two right 
regiments gave way in disorder, but with his center and 
left, followed by Clayton and Bate, he pressed on, passing 
the cornfield in front of the burnt house, and beyond the 
Chattanooga road, driving the enemy within his intrench- 
ments and passing over a battery of four guns. New 
batteries with infantry supports opening upon Stewart’s 
front and flank, he retired and reformed on the ground 
first occupied. In this charge Generals Brown and Clay¬ 
ton were wounded by grapeshot, and General Bate had 
two horses shot under him. At 5 p. m. of that day the 
division again advanced, Col. Edmund C. Cook command¬ 
ing Brown's brigade, and with a yell and at double-quick, 
dashed on the breastworks with a routed enemy flying 
in front. 

The field officers of the Eighteenth were wounded, and 
the regiment was commanded in the battle of the 20th 
by Capt. Gid. H. Lowe. Maj. R. F. Saffell, command¬ 
ing the Twenty-sixth after the fall of Colonel Lillard, 
reported a loss of 98 killed and wounded, out of 229 
present for duty. The Thirty-second sustained a loss of 
82. Colonel Cook reported that Private J. W. Ellis, after 
marching with his company for six weeks barefooted, 
went into battle in this condition, and was always with 
the front until he fell severely wounded. Private May- 
field, simultaneously shocked by a shell and wounded in 
the thigh by a minie ball, was placed on a litter and 
carried some distance toward the rear, when recovering 
consciousness he sprang from the litter and cried out, 
“This will not do for me,” rejoined his company and 
gallantly performed a soldier’s duty. Capt. W. P. 
Simpson, who succeeded to the command of the Twenty- 
third battalion after Major Newman was wounded, 
reported a loss of 43 killed and wounded. 

Bate’s brigade went into the fight with muskets in the 
hands of one-third of the men, but after the first charge, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 107 

says General Bate, every man was supplied with an 
Enfield rifle and ammunition by the enemy in his retreat. 
Every field officer in the brigade except three was 
wounded, and in the two days’ battle the brigade lost 607 
killed and wounded, out of a total of 1,188. Col. R. C. 
Tyler, Fifteenth; Lieut. -Col. R. Dudley Frayser, Thirty- 
seventh; Col. Thomas B. Smith, Twentieth, were 
wounded; Capt. C. G. Jarnigan, Thirty-seventh, and 
Lieut. John B Kent, Fifteenth, were killed; Lieuts. 
J. C. Grayson and J. P. Acuff, Thirty-seventh, were 
mortally wounded. Capt. W. C. Yancey, of General 
Bate’s staff, was severely wounded in the action of the 
20th, and the color-bearer of the Thirty-seventh, a brave 
lad whose name was not reported, was killed in the final 
charge of his regiment. 

Bushrod Johnson’s command was formed at 7 a. m. of 
the 20th, but it was 10 o’clock when his skirmishers fell 
back under the advance of the enemy. Johnson opened 
with artillery and musketry and repulsed the attack, and 
an hour later a general advance was made by the Con¬ 
federate army. The enemy in Johnson’s front was 
posted along the road leading from Chattanooga to Lee 
& Gordon’s mills, behind the fence at Brotherton’s 
house, also occupying two lines of breastworks in John¬ 
son’s front, and to the left; of it in the woods next to 
Brotherton’s farm. Johnson advanced and engaged the 
enemy, fighting over 600 yards through the woods under 
a heavy fire of all arms, and finally crossing the road, his 
command passed on both sides of Brotherton’s house. 
Though Johnson suffered heavy losses, his charge was 
irresistible, and the enemy fled or was killed or captured 
at the fences and outhouses. 

Johnson advanced his whole line, Gregg’s brigade 
under the gallant Col. Cyrus A. Sugg, Fiftieth, in rear, 
supported by Brig.-Gen. E. M. Law, then commanding 
Hood’s division, in a third line. The scene now pre¬ 
sented, said General Johnson, was unspeakably grand— 


108 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the rush of our heavy columns sweeping out from the 
shadow of the forest into the open fields; the glitter of 
arms; the retreat of the foe; the shouts of our men; the 
dust, the smoke; the noise of arms of whistling balls and 
grapeshot and bursting shells, made a battle scene of 
unsurpassed grandeur. Here General Hood gave his 
final order, “Go ahead and keep ahead of everything. ’’ 
The order was obeyed. Gregg’s brigade, under Sugg, 
captured nine pieces of artillery. Four 3-inch rifle 
pieces were taken from the First Missouri Federal artil¬ 
lery, and turned over to Bledsoe’s First Missouri Confed¬ 
erate artillery of that brigade. Pushing forward, the 
crest of the ridge was occupied and a damaging fire was 
delivered on the retreating masses, but the enemy 
reformed and returned to the attack, and without support 
on his right, Johnson was forced to fall back. At this 
point, Lieut.-Col. James D. Tillman, Forty-first Tennes¬ 
see, was severely wounded. The troops rallied in line at 
the batteries, again repulsed the enemy and held the hill, 
and when the final charge was made, General Johnson 
reports, ‘ ‘ with a shout we drove the enemy far down 
the northern slope to the bottom of the deep hollow 
beyond. We had completely flanked and passed to the 
rear of his position and thus aided in carrying the heights 
south of Snodgrass’ house.’’ Colonel Fulton, command¬ 
ing Johnson’s brigade, was greatly distinguished. Of 
Colonel Sugg, General Johnson said: “I feel especially 
indebted for his gallant, able and efficient services in 
commanding Gregg’s brigade. He is a good and merito¬ 
rious officer.” Johnson’s brigade lost 299 killed and 
wounded. Gregg’s brigade lost 585 killed and wounded; 
of these 109 men were killed on the field. 

Lieut.-Col. John L. McEwen, Jr., Forty-fourth; Liout.- 
Col. Horace Ready and Maj. J. G. Lowe, Twenty-third; 
Lieut.-Col. Watt W. Floyd and Maj. Samuel Davis, 
Seventeenth, were wounded. Lieutenant Scruggs, 
Seventeenth, was wounded and captured on the 19th and 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


109 


recaptured by his own regiment on the 20th. Colonel 
Floyd relates that in passing the Vidito house, he learned 
from Mr. Vidito, who was on the outlook, that the four 
ladies of his family “were lying in a little hole under the 
kitchen floor, concealed from the enemy, where they had 
been for two days. As we passed the house he discov¬ 
ered who we were and exclaimed, ‘The Confederates have 
the field! ’ whereupon the ladies threw off the planks that 
covered them, rushed out of the house and came bound¬ 
ing toward us with shouts of joy, as women never shouted 
before. 

The Seventeenth sustained heavy losses, the Twenty- 
third lost 103 killed and wounded, and every member of 
the field and staff was wounded. Lieuts. Nash L. Kuhn 
and D. M. Molloy, Twenty-fifth, were killed. Adjt. 
A. R. Greigg of the same regiment recaptured the colors 
of the Tenth South Carolina. 

The Sixty-third Tennessee, Col. A. Fulkerson, of 
Grade’s brigade, went into action between 4 and 5 o’clock 
p. m. of the 20th, supporting Kershaw’s brigade. The 
regiment was on the right of the brigade, and although 
in battle for the first time, exhibited the steadiness and 
valor of veterans, and was among the most conspicuous 
participants in the action fought and won by Preston’s 
division of Buckner’s corps, on the heights near Snod¬ 
grass’ house. Out of an aggregate of 404, it lost in killed 
and wounded 202. General Grade said in his report of 
the battle, “Lieut.-Col. A. Fulkerson, Sixty-third Ten¬ 
nessee, commanded the regiment and led it into action. 
To him it owes its discipline and efficiency. Colonel 
Fulkerson was severely wounded, making with the one 
received at Shiloh (as major of the Nineteenth) the sec¬ 
ond during the war. He is deserving of a much higher 
position.’’ Others wounded were Capts. W. N. Wilkinson, 
William H. Fulkerson, Lieuts. Henry Fugate, S. W. 
Jones, H. J. Barker, W. P. Rhea, James J. Aerec, A. H. 
Bullock, George H. Neill, J. H. McClure and Layne. 


110 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Capt. James T. Gillespie and Lieut. Shelby M. Deaderick 
were killed and buried on the field made famous by 
the prowess of their regiment. 

According to Maj. Thomas Kennedy Porter, Buckner’s 
chief of artillery, the artillery of the corps was seldom 
used, the ground over which the battle was fought being 
so thickly wooded that the officers could not see more 
than 300 yards to the front, and could not ascertain what 
damage was inflicted. When Preston’s division became 
hotly engaged and the enemy sent a large force to 
strengthen the line in his front, three batteries were then 
posted about 1,000 yards from the Chattanooga road, 
where the enemy was crossing, which did great execu¬ 
tion, silenced the enemy’s guns, cut off his reinforce¬ 
ments, and enabled Preston to capture between 500 and 
600 prisoners. 

In this day’s battle, Forrest’s cavalry was active and 
vigilant. Armstrong’s division and Dibrell’s brigade 
fought on foot and were always up with the infantry, for 
which General Forrest commended them with “pride and 
pleasure. ’’ Morton’s and Freeman’s Tennessee batteries 
rendered valiant service in resisting the advance of Gor¬ 
don Granger’s column. Forrest’s men were without 
rations, his horses were without water and had only a 
partial ration for two days, but no complaint was made. 

The army of Tennessee bivouacked within the enemy’s 
intrenchments or upon the heights it had so gallantly 
won. 

On the morning of the 20th of September, General 
Rosecrans reported present for duty, 67,877 officers and 
men. In his revised statement of casualties he reported 
a loss of 16,170 killed, wounded and captured, of which 
1 ,657 were killed on the field, 9,756 were wounded, and 
4,757 were captured by the Confederates. He had 9,913 
serviceable horses and 246 pieces of field artillery. Capt. 
Horace Porter, his chief of ordnance, reports the loss of 
36 pieces of artillery, the same number of artillery car- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Ill 


riages, and 22 caissons and limbers, with 8,008 rifled mus¬ 
kets, 5,834 sets of infantry accouterments, 150,280 rounds 
of infantry ammunition, and a large lot of sabers, car¬ 
bines and pistols. 

At the close of the day, Mr. C. A. Dana, the distin¬ 
guished editor, then assistant secretary of war, reported 
to his chief that “Chickamauga is as fatal a name in our 
history as Bull Run. ’ ’ The field was abandoned by the 
commanding general and two of his corps commanders, 
Crittenden and McCook. Thomas held the Federal left 
until his line of works was assaulted and carried by the 
brigade of Brigadier-General Polk, and until Bushrod 
Johnson flanked and passed to the rear of Gordon Gran¬ 
ger; about that time Kelly’s brigade of Preston’s divi¬ 
sion had captured two entire regiments of Granger’s, 
when the enemy fled precipitately. 

In his official report, Lieutenant-General Longstreet, 
commanding the left wing of the Confederate army, 
noted the capture by his command of 40 pieces of artil¬ 
lery, over 3,000 prisoners, 10 regimental standards, 17,645 
small-arms, and 393,000 rounds of small-arms ammuni¬ 
tion collected on the “field. ” General Bragg reported 
the capture of 8,000 prisoners and 51 pieces of artillery. 
Capt. O. T. Gibbes, ordnance officer, army of Tennessee, 
reported that 66 pieces of captured artillery were received 
by him at Ringgold, Ga. Gen. U. S. Grant, in a letter 
to Gen. W. T. Sherman, dated September 30, 1863, says 
“our loss was 54 pieces of artillery.” 

It was not until 2 p. m. of the 21st that an advance of 
the army was made. Cheatham, leading it on the right, 
bivouacked for the night at the “Mission House,’’ and 
moving early on the morning of the 2 2d, reached Mis¬ 
sionary Ridge at 10 a. m. He reported that finding the 
enemy on the crest of the ridge in force, his position was 
assailed and carried by Maney’s and Vaughan’s brigades 
after a spirited engagement of a few minutes. “The 
position was found to be one of much natural strength, 


112 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


increased by breastworks made of stone and fallen tim¬ 
ber, blit the enemy, now demoralized by a succession of 
disasters, made but a feeble resistance, and fled in great 
haste. ’ ’ 

Chickamauga was a great victory for the Confederate 
army, and yet a great disappointment to Tennesseeans. 
When the barren victory at Murfreesboro was won, and 
the State was abandoned, temporarily as it was believed, 
the criticism of the tactics of the commanding general 
was guarded and respectful; but when Cheatham’s divi¬ 
sion was halted on the crest of Missionary Ridge, hope 
ceased to be “an anchor of the soul.” 

No Tennesseean complained of the burthens put upon 
his people by a state of war, but official robbery and oppres¬ 
sion, insults to the old men and to their mothers, their 
wives and daughters, taxed the endurance of brave men 
to the utmost. The rule of the Federal authorities in 
Tennessee was worse than an iron one. Mr. Dana, 
under date of September 8, 1863, in a dispatch to E. M. 
Stanton, secretary of war, said Andrew Johnson, military 
governor of the State, “complains of the tardiness of 
Rosecrans, and these long months of precious time 
wasted. He has fallen under bad influence, and especially 
under that of his chief of detectives, a man named Trues- 
dall. This man is deep in all kinds of plunder, and has 
kept the army inactive to enable his accomplices and 
himself to become rich by jobs and contracts,’’ and he 
could have added, by the wholesale robbery of the people. 

The expulsion of non-combatants from their homes; 
the appropriation of private property not needed by 
the army; the indignities offered to people of both sexes; 
the grasping, domineering, oppressive temper and prac¬ 
tices of a class of which Truesdall was a representative, 
have no parallel in modern history. But in spite of the 
surrender of the State, and of the unnamed acts of vio¬ 
lence and cruelty, the soldiers of Tennessee were stead¬ 
fast to their colors to the end. 


CHAPTER VIII. 


THE FATAL PAUSE ON MISSIONARY RIDGE—CHANGES 
IN COMMAND—CHEATHAM’S DIVISION—THE FIGHT 
AT LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN—DISASTER ON MISSION¬ 
ARY RIDGE—GALLANTRY OF TENNESSEE COM¬ 
MANDS—BATTLE AT RINGGOLD—THE KNOXVILLE 
CAMPAIGN. 

HE army of Tennessee was halted on Missionary 



Ridge, and remained inactive for two months, 


until the 2cth of November, when it was driven 

%j t 

from its position and forced back to Dalton, Ga. 

On the 16th of October, General Rosecrans was super¬ 
seded in the command of the army of the Cumberland 
by Maj.-Gen. George H. Thomas, and the military division 
of the Mississippi, consisting of the departments of the 
Cumberland, Ohio and Tennessee, was created, with Maj.- 
Gen. U. S. Grant in command. 

General Bragg preferred charges against Lieutenant- 
General Polk for disobedience of orders at Chickamauga, 
and on the 29th of September, by a special order, sus¬ 
pended him from command. President Davis, “after an 
examination into the causes and circumstances, ” ignored 
the action of General Bragg, and assigned Polk to the 
command of the department of Mississippi and Louisiana. 
On taking leave of his army corps and turning it over to 
Major-General Cheatham the day following his suspen¬ 
sion, he said: “I leave my command in the care of the 
bravest of the brave, who has often led them in the dark¬ 
est hours of their trials. He and you will have my hopes 
and prayers to the Ruler of the Universe for your happi¬ 
ness and success. ’ ’ 

A large percentage of the four Tennessee brigades 


Tenn 8 


113 


114 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


under Cheatham had seen service under General Polk, 
from Belmont to Chickamauga. Whatever of glory and 
honor they had won was under his leadership, and they 
were devoted to him above all men next to their own 
division general. The men murmured, the officers 
resented in silence the action of the commanding general, 
and for this the Tennesseeans were scattered. Maney’s 
brigade was assigned to Walker’s division, Strahl’s to 
Stewart’s, Vaughn’s to Hindman’s; Wright’s brigade 
was detached and sent to Charleston, east Tennessee; 
and the Mississippi brigade, commanded by the gallant 
Walthall, and the Alabama brigade of John C. Moore, 
were assigned to Cheatham’s division. Cheatham was 
proud of his new command, but his devotion to the old 
one “was wonderful, passing the love of woman.’’ His 
command of Polk’s corps was temporary. Lieutenant- 
General Hardee was restored to the army of Tennessee, 
and commanded the corps at the disastrous battle soon to 
be fought. 

Cheatham resumed command of his division after dark 
on the 24th of November and some hours after the cap¬ 
ture of Walthall’s pickets by Hooker’s corps. Why Gen¬ 
eral Walthall “was not sustained is yet unexplained,” 
says General Bragg in his official report; ‘ ‘ the commander 
on that part of the field, Major-General Stevenson, had 
six brigades at his disposal.’’ When General Cheatham 
took command he was accompanied by Gen. John C. 
Breckinridge, and the two, in the presence of Cheatham’s 
chief of staff, were urged by the commanding general to 
hasten to Lookout mountain, and if possible withdraw 
Stevenson’s division from its summit and conduct our 
forces across Chattanooga creek. Holtzclaw’s brigade 
relieved Walthall, the enemy retiring before his advance; 
the danger was not imminent or immediately threaten¬ 
ing, and the order was easily executed. 

General Bragg, referring to the affair in his official 
report, says: “Orders were immediately given for the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


115 


ground to be disputed until we could withdraw our forces 
across Chattanooga creek, and the movement was com¬ 
menced. This having been successfully accomplished, 
our whole forces were concentrated on the ridge. ” Gen¬ 
eral Walthall reports that at u o’clock p. m., “under 
orders from Major-General Cheatham, I moved my com¬ 
mand to McFarland’s spring, where I passed the night.” 
Major-General Stevenson, reporting his action to the 
commanding general, stated: “I was engaged in issuing 
the necessary orders for the retirement of the troops 
when Major-General Cheatham arrived (at 8 p. m.). He 
informed me that he had come to consult with me, but 
not to assume command. I sent the troops from the top 
of the mountain down, and then proceeded myself to a 
point near its base where General Cheatham and myself 
had an appointment to meet. Here, as senior officer, he 
assumed command, and I gave no further directions with 
regard to the retirement of the troops except such as I 
received from him for those of my own division. Here we 
also met Major-General Breckinridge, who, when Major- 
General Cheatham took command, returned to his corps. ” 

The First brigade (Brown’s Tennessee) crossed Chat¬ 
tanooga creek at n p. m., followed at short intervals 
by the entire force. The movement was conducted suc¬ 
cessfully and in order by General Cheatham; no ammuni¬ 
tion was lost, not a sick or wounded man was abandoned; 
but no credit was accorded him for his services, and no 
mention was made of his name in the official report of 
the commanding general. 

Brown’s Tennessee brigade was ordered at 4 a. m., 
on the 25th, to the extreme right of the line as rein¬ 
forcements to General Cleburne, in whose front the 
enemy was supposed to be concentrating forces for 
his main attack. The brigade occupied the position 
between the left of Cleburne’s line of defenses and 
the railroad. Brown’s skirmishers, he reports, were 
all the while engaged, and so hotly for a time that he 


116 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


reinforced the line until half of the brigade was deployed. 
The advance of the enemy was checked, many were killed 
and wounded, and 50 prisoners captured. An hour before 
sunset the brigade was ordered to report to Major-Gen¬ 
eral Cheatham, the enemy having already penetrated the 
line on his left, and there the brigade was warmly engaged 
until ordered to retire across the Chickamauga. In the 
action in support of Cleburne, Maj. W. H. Joyner, of the 
Eighteenth, was wounded, Lieut. J. T. Pigg, of the 
Thirty-second, was killed, and 16 men wounded. 

Bate’s brigade, Col. R. C. Tyler commanding, was 
fiercely assailed; the troops on the right gave way, and 
in attempting to rally the broken line Colonel Tyler was 
dangerously wounded, when the command devolved on 
Lieut.-Col. James J. Turner, of the Tenth and Thirtieth. 
Colonel Turner, in his history of the battle, says he fell 
back about 1,500 yards and halted and formed across the 
road, when the division commander, Brigadier-General 
Bate, directed him to follow on to the pontoon bridge at 
the Chickamauga, the sun being an hour high. “Cobb’s 
battery and a number of detached soldiers, numbering 
about 500, came up and fell into our line of battle. As 
all the generals had left and we were free to act inde¬ 
pendently, we concluded to stop the Federal forces at this 
point till darkness should arrest their advance. Cobb’s 
battery opened upon the enemy vigorously, and I directed 
Major Caswell to deploy his Georgia battalion of sharp¬ 
shooters to cover our front and feel the enemy, which 
order was executed to the letter. As soon as the Federals 
came in range, both sides opened with great spirit. We 
had the advantage in position, but were outnumbered by 
at least three to one. The firing was very severe, ammu¬ 
nition was nearly exhausted, and it was quite dark—an 
hour after sunset. At this juncture, after a battle of two 
hours, General Breckinridge, the corps commander, came 
up from the rear, having heard the firing, and inquired, 
‘What command is this and why are you here?’ Fie 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY . 117 

added that his entire command had been broken and was 
in retreat, and ordered me to fall back.” The darkness 
was Turner’s protection, and the order from Breckinridge 
saved him from capture. The regiments on his right, he 
says, came out to the road within a few yards of the 
Federal line. (Col. Jas. J. Turner, sketch of Thirtieth 
Tennessee.) 

Turner’s command consisted of the Thirty-seventh 
Georgia, Lieut.-Col. Joseph T. Smith; Fourth Georgia 
sharpshooters, Major Caswell; Tenth Tennessee, Major 
O’Neill; Fifteenth and Thirty-seventh Tennessee, Lieut.- 
Col. R. Dudley Frayser; Twentieth Tennessee, Maj. W. 
M. Shy; First Tennessee battalion, Maj. Stephen H. 
Colms; his own gallant regiment, the Thirtieth Tennessee, 
and Cobb’s battalion of artillery, composed of Cobb’s, Slo- 
cumb’s and Mebane’s batteries. Turner fought Sheri¬ 
dan’s division and held it in check for two hours. It was a 
gallant action, and the names of the participants will live 
forever. Turner won promotion, if he did not receive it. 
The rear alone was open to him, the Federal troops in 
vastly superior numbers were in front and on both flanks; 
but the line of retreat was taken up in good order, no pur¬ 
suit was made, and he reached the pontoon bridge over the 
Chickamauga at midnight, just before it was removed. 
Vaughn’s brigade (now of Hindman’s division), says 
General Vaughn, “did some of the greatest and most 
heroic fighting of the war, and though forced to fall back, 
contested every inch of ground. ’ ’ When flanked on the 
left, the brigade retired in order. 

Maney’s brigade of Walker’s division was on the 
extreme right in support of Cleburne, Maney being posted 
in rear of Smith’s line. The First and Twenty-seventh, 
Col. H. R. Feild, were moved in front of the works to a 
very exposed position on the right of Warfield’s Arkansas 
regiment. General Cleburne ordered Cumming to charge 
the enemy in his front, and he advanced with the Fifty- 
sixth and Thirty-sixth Georgia. “Twice,” says General 


118 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Cleburne, “he was checked and had to reform, and War- 
field’s Arkansas regiment and the gallant First and 
Twenty-seventh Tennessee prepared to share his next 
effort. At the command, the whole rushed forward with 
a cheer, and the enemy, completely surprised, fled. 
Iffeutenant-Colonel Sanders, leading the left of Mills’ 
Texas regiment on the enemy’s flank, pursued him to 
the foot of the ridge and nearly across the open ground 
in front. The column returned with 8 stand of colors 
and 500 prisoners. The enemy, reinforced, made an 
attempt to follow, but was met and routed by the Fiftieth 
Tennessee.” In this gallant action of the Fiftieth, its 
noble colonel, Cyrus A. Sugg, fell mortally wounded. 
He was greatly distinguished at Chickamauga; no officer 
of the army had a more promising record, and no Tennes¬ 
see name deserves greater honor. General Cleburne, 
referring to him and to Col. McConnell of Cumming’s 
brigade, said: “I did not personally know them, but I saw 
and can bear witness to their gallant bearing and noble 
death.” Gen. L. E. Polk’s Arkansas and Tennessee bri¬ 
gade was not actively engaged, but rendered good service 
in holding an important position. The same can be said 
of Wright’s Tennessee brigade, which was acting under 
the orders of the commanding general of the army. 

Cheatham’s division took position on Missionary Ridge 
to the left of the road which led down to the right of our 
fortifications. It was moved to the right and again, under 
orders, to the left, where it was subjected to a fire of the 
enemy’s artillery and sharpshooters. General Walthall, 
in his report of the battle, says: “My position was not 
attacked in front; but about 4 o’clock, when the lines had 
been forced and broken on the left (of Cheatham), and 
after the enemy had reached the top of the ridge, the 
major-general commanding directed me to form my line 
across the ridge at right angles to the position I then 
occupied. This change was made under a brisk fire of 
the enemy, who advanced upon me along the crest of the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


119 


ridge. The fire was kept up until after dark, but the 
position was held, the enemy not approaching nearer than 
200 yards. ” General Cheatham considered this action of 
Walthall’s one of the most brilliant of the war, and his 
report of it excessively modest. The change of position 
under fire and the repulse of the enemy’s repeated 
assaults were a distinction to the brigade commander and 
to his veteran troops. If he had yielded, an army corps 
would have poured down upon Cleburne’s left and over¬ 
whelmed him. In this combat General Walthall and 
Maj. John Ingram, of General Cheatham’s staff, were 
seriously wounded; Adjt. John W. Campbell, Twenty- 
ninth Mississippi, was mortally wounded, and the brigade 
sustained a loss of 28 wounded. Moore’s brigade was on 
the left of Walthall and the right of Jackson’s two bri¬ 
gades, where the enemy made a great effort to drive them 
from their position, but failed signally. 

The general commanding the army seemed to appre¬ 
ciate Walthall’s splendid performance. In his official 
report he says: “Lieutenant-General Hardee, leaving 
Major-General Cleburne in command on the extreme 
right, moved toward the left when he heard the heavy 
firing in that direction. He reached the right of Ander¬ 
son’s division just in time to find it had nearly all fallen 
back, commencing on its left, where the enemy had first 
crowned the ridge. By a prompt and judicious move¬ 
ment he threw a portion of Cheatham’s division directly 
across the ridge facing the enemy, who was now moving 
a strong force immediately on his left flank. By a decided 
stand here the enemy was entirely checked, and that 
portion of our force to the right remained intact. ’ ’ In 
fact, when General Hardee came up from the right, 
Walthall had already formed across the ridge and driven 
the enemy back. With enthusiasm Hardee said to 
Cheatham, “You have saved the right of the army. ’’ The 
“heavy firing’’ heard by General Hardee was Walthall’s 
resistance to the advance of the enemy. 


120 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Strahl’s Tennessee brigade, Stewart’s division, consti¬ 
tuted a part of what General Stewart aptly called “the 
attenuated line’’ by which Missionary Ridge was nom¬ 
inally held. It was swept from the crest after a stout 
resistance and crossed the Chickamauga in order. 

Hooker had been sent from Virginia with two army 
corps to reinforce the Federal army; Sherman’s army 
had been brought up; and two months of inaction enabled 
General Grant, in command at Chattanooga, to concen¬ 
trate a great army. On the other hand, Longstreet with 
his corps and Bushrod Johnson with his division had 
been detached and sent to east Tennessee, and, says 
Lieutenant-General Stewart, “the preparation made by 
General Bragg indicated a purpose to retreat,” but it 
was abandoned. The movement by the enemy on Bragg’s 
right caused an undue concentration in that quarter, 
while the left and center were strung out into little more 
than a skirmish line. The movements of the Federal 
army were in full view of the Confederate troops; the 
numbers were overwhelming, and “like a spring tide 
from the mighty ocean, they rushed up the slopes of Mis¬ 
sionary Ridge.” It was not surprising that parts of 
Anderson’s division, a mere skirmish line, were seized 
with a panic, and without resistance abandoned the field 
and lost the battle, and possibly prevented a greater 
disaster. 

General Grant was slow to claim the great victory he 
had won. At 7:15 p. m. of the 25 th of November he 
advised the general-in-chief of the Federal army, “I 
have no idea of finding Bragg here to-morrow. ” It was 
not until the morning of the 27th that the advance of 
Thomas’ forces under Hooker and Palmer reached the 
front of the Confederate rear guard of Hardee’s corps 
under Cleburne, less than 20 miles away, at Ringgold, Ga. 

Cleburne’s command consisted of 4,157 men; his retire¬ 
ment to this place had been leisurely made; he was in 
position carefully selected, and he received the attack 







O/>0Ol, i 























CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


121 


about 8 a. m. of the 27th, by a force many times his 
superior. The repulse was a bloody and decisive one, 
from which the enemy made no attempt to advance. 
Cleburne lost 20 killed, 190 wounded, and Hooker ad¬ 
mitted a loss of 65 killed and 377 wounded. Among the 
wounded of Cleburne’s command were Col. W. D. Robi¬ 
son, Second Tennessee, and Lieut.-Col. J. G. Cole, Fifth 
(Confederate) Tennessee, mortally wounded. Colonel 
Cole had been a conspicuous figure of Polk’s brigade in 
all of the great battles of the Southwest, and had won 
commendation and honor on every field. 

General Grant reported his losses at Missionary Ridge 
at 5,616 killed, wounded and missing. The corrected 
figures show a loss of 5,824. The Confederate loss he 
estimated “probably less than ours,” but claimed 6,142 
prisoners, 40 pieces of artillery and 7,000 stand of small- 
arms by the entire army; while Hooker, commanding the 
Eleventh and Twelfth army corps, reported the cap¬ 
ture by his command of “6,547 prisoners, 7 pieces of 
artillery, 9 battleflags and not less than 10,000 stand 
of small-arms.” General Grant, in forwarding Hooker’s 
report under date of March 25, 1864, placed this endorse¬ 
ment upon it: “Attention is called to that part of the 
report giving the number of prisoners and small-arms 
captured, which is greater than the number really cap¬ 
tured by the whole army. ’ ’ 

This General Hooker, who was so defiant of historical 
accuracy, is the same Gen. Joseph Hooker who was 
the author of a slanderous communication addressed to 
the Hon. S. P. Chase, dated December 28, 1863, and 
published in 1890, on page 339, Series 1, Vol. XXXI, 
Part 2, of “Official Records of the Union and Confederate 
Armies,” in which the following statement was made: 
‘ ‘ Before the battle of Lookout, I had opened communica¬ 
tion with Cheatham’s division, holding the summit of the 
mountain, and had good reason to believe that I would 
have succeeded in bringing in all the enlisted men with 


122 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


some of the officers but for their untimely removal. They 
were relieved by Stevenson’s division. The only condi¬ 
tions I required were that they should give themselves 
to me with arms in their hands, and take the oath of 
allegiance; theirs, that they should be permitted to return 
to their homes, or go where the conscription could not 
reach them. You will remember that when Bragg re¬ 
treated from Tennessee he was compelled to march the 
Tennessee troops under guard. ’ ’ 

No man, living or dead, could have believed that there 
was the slightest foundation for this story. It was evi¬ 
dently prepared with the expectation that the author of 
it would be exalted for his supposed zeal in the prosecu¬ 
tion of his missionary labor in beguiling Cheatham’s 
division from allegiance to their country and to their 
honor, and with no expectation that it would be published 
as a part of the history of those perilous days. 

Cheatham’s division never occupied the summit of the 
mountain. The First and Twenty-seventh Tennessee, 
of Maney’s brigade, Walker’s division, were there on 
picket duty for about ten days in October; and this con¬ 
solidated regiment is the same referred to in handsome 
terms by General Cleburne for participation in the battle 
of November 25th, when, uniting with troops from 
Texas and Arkansas, Sherman’s forces in their front 
were driven from the field. 

“You will remember” (said this American Munchausen) 
“that when Bragg retreated from Tennessee he was 
compelled to march the Tennessee troops under guard. ’ ’ 
Judge Chase could remember nothing so idiotic or so 
impossible. It is a pity that the author of the slander 
had not remembered the lesson taught in Dickens’ “Great 
Expectations:’’ “Don’t you tell no more lies, Pip; that 
ain’t the way to get out of being common, old chap.’’ 
When Bragg retired from Tennessee, Cheatham’s division 
constituted the rear guard of the army, and its last service 
before ascending the mountain was to drive, in inglorious 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


123 


confusion and retreat, the Federal cavalry by which it 
was assailed at Cowan. When it reached Chattanooga it 
was stronger than when it retired from Shelbyville; fur¬ 
loughed men and volunteers joined it en route, and in 
many instances ran the gauntlet of Federal pickets, 
scouts and cavalry. In addition to the Tennessee brigades 
of Cheatham, John C. Brown’s and Bushrod Johnson’s 
were composed exclusively of Tennesseeans, and Bate’s, 
Polk’s and Smith’s were largely Tennessee troops; and 
these, with the artillery and cavalry from that State, con¬ 
stituted a force too strong and too spirited to “march 
under guard, ’ ’ unless they had been led by the vaunting 
“hero of the battle above the clouds.’’ 

The Knoxville campaign, under Lieut.-Gen. James 
Longstreet, was participated in by Bushrod Johnson’s bri¬ 
gade; the Fourth, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Tennessee 
cavalry under Brig.-Gen. W. Y. C. Humes; Dibrell’s cav¬ 
alry brigade; Freeman’s, White’s, Rhett’sand McClung’s 
batteries, and the First Tennessee cavalry, Col. Onslow 
Bean. General Johnson, with his own and Gracie’s bri¬ 
gade, reached the front of Knoxville on the 27th and 28th 
of November, 1863. On the 29th he moved to the attack 
on Fort Loudon in support of the assaulting column 
under Brigadier-General Humphreys, Gracie on the right. 
The command approached to within 250 yards of the 
enemy’s fortifications on which the assault was made, and 
was soon under fire. At this time Gracie was withdrawn 
by the lieutenant-general commanding, and an order 
made for Johnson to halt. The attack was abandoned, 
and Johnson occupied, with his skirmishers, the advance 
rifle-pits, distant 250 yards from the enemy’s fort. Dur¬ 
ing the assault on Fort Loudon, Johnson’s brigade lost 
Lieut. S. W. Ross, Forty-fourth, and Private J. P. Hicks, 
Seventeenth, killed, and 19 officers and men wounded. 
On December 4th, at nightfall, Johnson’s command with¬ 
drew from the line of investment in front of Knoxville 
and moved with Longstreet’s corps to Bean’s Station and 


124 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY . 


Rogersville. Major Lane, of the Twenty-third, withdrew 
the pickets from the enemy’s front at n p. m. 

Johnson’s command was not in good condition for a 
campaign in midwinter; the men were poorly clad and 
many of them barefooted. On December 14th they 
participated in a combat at Bean’s Station, in which the 
brigade sustained a loss of 6 killed and 52 wounded. In 
this affair General Johnson advanced directly against 
the enemy and drove him to the buildings at Bean’s Sta¬ 
tion, where he met with a stout resistance. During the 
night the enemy succeeded in making his escape, after 
sustaining a loss of 100 killed, with many wounded, and 
the sacrifice of valuable stores. 

In the advance on Knoxville the cavalry under General 
Wheeler attacked the enemy first at Maryville, where 
Dibrell’s Tennessee brigade charged the Eleventh Ken¬ 
tucky cavalry, scattering it into small parties and cap¬ 
turing 151 prisoners. Wolford’s Federal brigade, coming 
up to the rescue, was assailed by Wheeler and driven 
over Little river in wild confusion, and 85 prisoners taken. 
The following day Wheeler moved across Little river and 
attacked the brigades of Federal cavalry commanded by 
Gen. J. M. Shackleford, Col. Frank Wolford and Col. 
Charles D. Pennebaker, charging this force with the 
Eighth and Eleventh Texas, the Third Arkansas, and 
Dibrell’s Tennessee brigade. The enemy’s line was 
broken and the field abandoned in disorder. The pur¬ 
suit was continued for three miles to the river opposite 
Knoxville, where the enemy dashed over the pontoon 
bridge, creating great consternation, while many plunged 
into the river and some were drowned. In this stampede 
140 prisoners were captured and many killed and wounded. 

The suffering of the Confederate soldiers in this cam¬ 
paign may be inferred from the fact that General Long- 
street, on December 16th, informed the adjutant-general 
that “we shall be obliged to suspend active operations 
for want of shoes and clothing. ’ ’ 


CHAPTER IX. 


THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN—JOHNSTON TAKES COMMAND 
—REUNION OF CHEATHAM’S DIVISION—TENNESSEE¬ 
ANS AT RESACA—NEW HOPE CHURCH—DALLAS— 
KENESAW MOUNTAIN—LOSSES OF THE ARMY- 
BATTLES ABOUT ATLANTA—JONESBORO. 


G ENERAL JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON assumed com¬ 
mand of the army of Tennessee on the 27th of 
December, 1863. His order announcing the fact 
was received by the troops with great enthusiasm. He 
found the army deficient in numbers, arms, subsistence, 
stores and field transportation. General Bragg had 
reported to the President after Missionary Ridge, express¬ 
ing “confidence in the courage and morale of the troops. ” 
The courage of the troops was indisputable—recent fail¬ 
ures and disasters had not shaken it, and General Johns¬ 
ton’s presence revived confidence in themselves and hope 
for the success of the cause for which so many sacrifices 
had been made. 

One of the earliest orders of General Johnston was the 
restoration of Maney’s, Strahl’s and Vaughan’s brigades 
to Cheatham’s division, together with Donelson’s old bri¬ 
gade, afterward Wright’s, Col. John C. Carter, Thirty- 
eighth Tennessee, commanding. The esprit de corps of 
the division was fully restored, and the old spirit of 
invincibility was again dominant. The enthusiasm con¬ 
sequent upon this reunion found expression in a serenade 
to the general-in-chief, in which the men of the entire 
division were participants, a demonstration not prescribed 
in army regulations, but so hearty and cordial that the 
severity of discipline relaxed in favor of the veterans. 
General Johnston occupied the next three months in 


125 


126 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the training and discipline of his troops. The winter 
was exceptionally severe; the rations were not the best; 
fuel and clothing, hats and shoes were not always obtain¬ 
able ; but the approach of spring found the men cheerful 
and ready for action. On the ist of May, 1864, the army 
of Tennessee had of infantry, artillery and cavalry, 42,756 
officers and men. 

Gen. W. T. Sherman, commanding the Federal army, 
telegraphed the general commanding at Washington, on 
the 5th of May, that his forward movement was being 
made from Ringgold, Ga., with an army 80,000 strong. 
General Johnston was soon reinforced by the divisions of 
Major-Generals Loring and French, commanded by Lieu¬ 
tenant-General Polk, and known thereafter as Polk’s 
corps. On the 5th the Confederate troops were formed 
to receive the enemy; Stewart’s and Bate’s divisions in 
Mill creek gap, and Cheatham on Stewart’s right, occupy¬ 
ing a mile on the crest of the mountain. The assault on 
Stewart and Bate was repulsed, but Cheatham and Bate 
were constantly skirmishing until the night of the 12th. 

On the 8th an attack was made in force upon the angle 
where the Confederate right and center joined the crest 
of the mountain held by Pettus’ (Alabama) brigade, but 
was quickly repulsed. Brown’s Tennessee brigade was 
moved to the left of Pettus, and there sustained and 
repulsed a vigorous assault on the 9th by a large force 
advancing in column. General Johnston says “it was 
met with the firmness always displayed where Pettus or 
Brown commanded and their troops fought. ’ ’ At 9:40 
p. m., Major-General Hooker, reporting his failure at 
Mill creek gap (defended by Stewart, Cheatham and 
Bate) to General Sherman, said: “General Geary failed 
to take it; with his force it is impossible. ’ ’ On the 16th 
General Hooker reported that his loss up to the 15th was 
760 wounded. 

On the night of the 12th the army of Tennessee 
(Hardee’s corps in advance) moved to Resaca, Vaughan’s 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 127 

brigade of Cheatham’s division having already been sent 
to the support of Brigadier-General Cantey. On the 
arrival of Hardee’s corps it was fiercely attacked by the 
army of the Ohio, commanded by Major-General Scho¬ 
field, and Palmer’s corps, with the result that Gen. Geo. H. 
Thomas reported to the commanding general under date 
of May 14th, that “the position in front of Palmer and 
Schofield cannot be carried,” adding, “Howard’s corps 
is moving in on Schofield’s left. ” With this force, heavy 
skirmishing with frequent assaults continued for three 
days. Failing in an attack on Cheatham’s line made on 
the 13th, unsuccessful efforts were made to carry the line 
held by Cleburne and Bate during the 14th and 15th, and 
during this time heavy skirmishing was continuous along 
the line occupied by the army of Tennessee. On the 
night of the 15th, Gen. W. H. T. Walker, then at Cal¬ 
houn, reported that the Federal 'army was crossing the 
Oostenaula river near that place, and this forced General 
Johnston’s retirement from Resaca. 

On the 9th, Major-General Wheeler, with Brig.-Gen. 
Geo. G. Dibrell’s Tennessee brigade of cavalry, composed 
of the Fourth, Col. Wm. S. McLemore; Eighth, Capt. 
Jefferson Leftwich; Ninth, Capt. James M. Reynolds; 
Tenth, Maj. John Minor; and Allen’s Alabama brigade, 
Colonel Cook’s Texas Rangers, and the Eighth Confeder¬ 
ate regiment, encountered about 5,000 Federal cavalry 
near Varnell ’ s Station. Dismounting his command except 
two regiments, he routed the enemy and captured 100 
prisoners, among them Colonel La Grange, commanding 
brigade, 3 captains and 5 lieutenants. After the rout 
Colonel Cook and Colonel Prather charged into the 
enemy’s ranks, killing and wounding large numbers. 

In a dispatch of May 16th, General Sherman stated that 
his wounded at Resaca numbered 3,375; the number of 
dead, he added, “will not exceed the usual proportion.” 
There were 1,790 Federal dead buried at Resaca, and 
170 Confederates. The latter loss was mainly on the 


128 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


skirmish line, the assaults made by the Federal troops 
being received behind intrenchments. General Johnston 
coming on the field observed the skirmish line in front 
of Vaughan’s brigade hotly engaged, having first driven 
the enemy’s advance from the field, then repelled a des¬ 
perate assault by reinforcements, and he turned to the 
gallant commander of the brigade and asked, “What com¬ 
mand is this in your front?” Vaughan’s face was lighted 
by the enthusiasm of battle, and with pride in his brave 
fellows he replied, “That is the Thirteenth and One 
Hundred and Fifty-fourth Tennessee of my brigade, 
Cheatham’s division. ” “And who,” asked the general, 
“is in command of that line?” The answer was, “ Lieut. - 
Col. John W. Dawson.” Turning to the division general, 
Johnston said: “I never witnessed such a display of skill 
and courage, and never saw troops under such discipline 
and control. ’ ’ Every movement of Dawson was under 
observation, in full view of the commanding generals of 
the army, the corps, the division and the brigade. Such an 
opportunity is of rare occurrence. Dawson did not know 
whose eyes were upon him; his lofty courage, sense of 
duty and patriotism alone animated him, and this dis¬ 
play at Resaca was made by him on every battlefield of 
the war where he fought. Col. Sidney S. Stanton, 
Twenty-eighth Tennessee, who fell in this battle, had 
been conspicuous in many engagements, was greatly dis¬ 
tinguished at Chickamauga, had attained State distinction 
in civil life, and was recognized as a rising man. Though 
he deprecated war, he carried into it the coolness and 
courage of his race, and by his personal example stimu¬ 
lated his command to action. 

“By his light 
Did all the chivalry move 
To do brave acts.” 

At Calhoun, Cleburne reported, he moved to his left and 
rear to meet a force threatening Walker’s right. Polk’s 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 129 

Arkansas and Tennessee brigade met the movement and 
punished the enemy handsomely, and no further attempt 
at an advance was made. At nightfall Johnston retired 
toward Adairsville, and on the morning of the 17th went 
into position two miles north of that place—Cheatham’s 
division being placed in front of Hardee’s corps, sup¬ 
ported by Cleburne, Bate on his left. The enemy made 
a furious assault on Cheatham, but was repulsed and 
was content to hold his position. At night Johnston 
retired to Kingston, and after a halt of a few hours the 
army fell back to Cassville. There General Johnston’s 
battle order was read to the army. Hardee reported that 
his troops were “wild with enthusiasm and delight.” 
The position was well chosen, and the best occupied dur¬ 
ing the campaign. But, according to General Johnston’s 
report, Polk and Hood were unwilling to risk a battle 
there, claiming that a part of Polk’s corps was enfiladed 
by the Federal artillery, and urged Johnston to abandon 
the place and cross the Etowah river. Hardee, although 
not so favorably posted, remonstrated against the change. 
General Johnston yielded his better judgment and lost 
his best opportunity, and at daylight of the 20th reluc¬ 
tantly crossed the Etowah. 

On the 19th, Federal dispatches were sent to Washing¬ 
ton stating that “Johnston retires slowly, leaving nothing, 
and hitting hard if crowded. ’ ’ Sherman, in spite of his 
heavy losses, reported on the 21st of May that he would 
move on the following day “with full 80,000 fighting 
men,” and had ordered the Seventeenth army corps, 
10,500 strong, to join him. 

Hardee’s corps spent Saturday and Sunday near Alla- 
toona, on Pumpkin Vine creek; on the following day 
marched eight miles to meet a reported movement of the 
enemy; on the 24th marched ten miles below Dallas, 
and then immediately returned where General Johnston 
had concentrated the army. 

On the 27th, Cleburne fought the battle of New Hope 

Tenn 9 


130 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Church. Being attacked at 4 o’clock p. m. by four army 
corps, the enemy was repulsed after an obstinate fight of 
an hour and a half, and Cleburne reported the capture of 
160 prisoners, exclusive of 72 sent to his field hospital, 
and the capture of 1,200 small-arms. His own loss was 
85 killed and 363 wounded, and he estimated the Federal 
loss at 3,000. According to General Hardee, 700 Federal 
dead were lying within a dozen paces of Cleburne’s line. 
Brig.-Gen. W. A. Quarles, with his Tennessee brigade, 
received the thanks of General Cleburne for efficient co¬ 
operation in resisting the attack. A body of the assail¬ 
ants charged into Quarles’ rifle-pits, where most of them 
were killed or captured. 

On the 28th, in a heavy skirmish in which Strahl’s bri¬ 
gade was engaged, Col. Jonathan J. Lamb, Fifth Tennes¬ 
see, was mortally wounded. He was a courageous, vigilant 
and well-beloved officer, who fought in the ranks as a pri¬ 
vate soldier at Shiloh, and won promotion from time to 
time until he reached the command of his regiment. At 
his fall the gallant Maj. Henry Hampton, of the Fourth, 
assumed command of the Fourth and Fifth (consolidated). 
On the same day, Bate’s division, on the left of the army 
and in front of the village of Dallas, was instructed to 
ascertain by a forced reconnoissance if the intrench- 
ments were still held in force. The brigade commanders 
mistook the resistance to Armstrong’s cavalry as a 
signal to advance and rushed forward to the attack, but 
were compelled to draw off after sustaining a loss of 300 
killed and wounded. 

Skirmishing continued from day to day, and early 
in June the army had been transferred to a line before 
Marietta. On June 14th, Lieutenant-General Polk was 
killed by the enemy’s artillery while on the outpost of 
Bate’s division on Pine mountain by a chance shot from 
a Federal battery distant 600 or 700 yards, at the time 
being in company with General Johnston and Lieutenant- 
General Hardee, making an examination of the position. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


131 


The death of this eminent man brought great sorrow to 
the army. He had been a central figure in it from its 
organization, and the men had discovered at an early day 
that he was insensible to fear and was just and gen¬ 
erous, qualities which secured for him the love and con¬ 
fidence of officers and men. 

The battle of Kenesaw Mountain was fought by Cheat¬ 
ham on the 27th of June. The order to attack his position 
was dated the 26th. It was executed by Newton’s divi¬ 
sion of the Fourth army corps, over 5,000 strong—Harker’s 
brigade on the right in two columns, Wagner’s brigade 
on Harker’s left in one column, the regiments being in 
close column, left in front. Whittaker’s brigade of Stan¬ 
ley’s division, Fourth corps, followed Harker as a sup¬ 
port, in column of deployed regiments. Kirby’s brigade 
of the same division followed Wagner in column with 
two-regiment front, the two brigades of Stanley also 
numbering 5,000 men. Wood’s division of the Fourth 
corps sent two brigades, 5,000 strong, in rear and to the 
left of Newton’s division, Kimball’s brigade being on the 
extreme left. Davis’ division of the Fourteenth army 
corps, over 6,000 strong, was on Newton’s right and con¬ 
fronted Cleburne’s division, with Grose’s brigade and 
other troops in reserve. Cheatham’s entire division was 
hotly engaged, but the salient in his line was the main 
point of attack. Davis’ division, in front of Cleburne, was 
repulsed. Nearly all of the field officers in McCook’s bri¬ 
gade, including the brigade commander, were killed. 

General Johnston said in his “Narrative:” 

The most determined and powerful attack fell upon 
Cheatham’s division and the left of Cleburne’s. The 
lines of the two armies were much nearer to each other 
there; therefore the action was begun at shorter range. 
The Federal troops were in greater force, and deeper 
order, too, and pressed forward with the resolution always 
displayed by the American soldier when properly led. 
An attempt to turn the left was promptly met and de- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


feated by Cheatham’s reserve, Vaughan’s brigade. After 
maintaining the contest for three-quarters of an hour, 
until more of their best soldiers lay dead and wounded 
than the number of British veterans that fell in General 
Jackson’s celebrated battle of New Orleans, the foremost 
dead lying against our breastworks, they retired unsuc¬ 
cessful, because they had encountered intrenched infantry 
unsurpassed by that of Napoleon’s Old Guard, or that 
which followed Wellington into France, out of Spain. 

Cheatham lost 195 officers and men, Cleburne, 11. The 
attempt to turn Cheatham’s left was defeated by the 
prompt action of Brig.-Gen. O. F. Strahl with his bri¬ 
gade. Brig.-Gen. C. G. Harker fell in the attempt 
to lead his command to a second assault. The “angle” 
in Cheatham’s line, known to the survivors of Harker’s 
division as “dead angle,” was held by parts of Maney’s 
and Vaughan’s brigades, Maney’s brigade commanded 
by Col. F. M. Walker, Nineteenth Tennessee. It was 
the weak point in the line, and when the prepara¬ 
tion for the assault was made, the division general 
instructed his command that the position must be 
held at any cost; that its loss meant more than the 
loss of a battle. The First and Twenty-seventh, One Hun¬ 
dred and Fifty-fourth and Thirteenth Tennessee held 
the post of danger and of honor, and to the order 
of their chief they responded with a ringing cheer that 
must have chilled the hearts of the advancing hosts. 
On the right and left of these two (consolidated) regi¬ 
ments stood their veteran comrades of the division, ready 
to support them or to take their places and join in the 
defense. The advancing column came like a great surge 
of the sea, and the resistance was like that of the rock 
upon which the billows break; 385 Federal dead were left 
lying in front of Maney’s brigade, and 415 in front of 
Vaughan’s. Gen. Geo. H. Thomas officially reported the 
loss of the army of the Cumberland during the month of 
June at 5,747, three-fourths of which must have occurred 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 133 

in front of the “dead angle.” On the 29th a truce was 
agreed to at the request of the Federal commander, to 
permit the burial of his dead lying near the Confederate 
breastworks. 

The Federal and Confederate armies confronted each 
other for twenty-six days near Marietta. On July 4th 
Cheatham’s division was sent to the assistance of Hood’s 
corps, and during that day the division sustained a great 
loss in the wounding and permanent disability of Brig.- 
Gen. A. J. Vaughan, who lost a leg from a cannon shot 
while his brigade was resting in the trenches. General 
Vaughan was a representative of the best type of the 
Southern soldier, was present and conspicuous at every 
battle from Belmont down to this date, and never failed 
in his duty. His judgment was never at fault, his 
vigilance and reliability proverbial, his courage superb, 
and in another age he would have been classed with 
“Hector and all the gallantry of Troy.” 

Maj.-Gen. Alexander P. Stewart,of Tennessee,was made 
lieutenant-general, and on the 7th of July assumed com¬ 
mand of Polk’s corps, a well-deserved promotion won on 
the battlefield. General Johnston hesitated in his recom¬ 
mendation of a successor to Lieutenant-General Polk. 
Major-Generals Loring and French commanded divi¬ 
sions in Polk’s corps. Cheatham and Cleburne had just 
won great distinction at New Hope church and Kenesaw 
Mountain. Without their knowledge their names were 
considered by the commanding general, but his conclu¬ 
sion to present the name of Stewart was approved by the 
army. 

On the 8th of July two corps of Sherman’s army 
crossed the Chattahoochee and intrenched, and on the 
night of the 9th the army of Tennessee crossed the river 
and went into position two miles from it. On the 17th 
the entire Federal army crossed the river, and that even¬ 
ing General Johnston received notice from the war office 
at Richmond that he had been relieved and that Hood, 


134 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


now a full general, had been placed in command of the 
army. General Johnston turned the command over to 
General Hood on the afternoon of the following day. 
Lieutenant-General Stewart expressed the opinion of the 
Tennessee troops when he said that the army gave Gen¬ 
eral Johnston “love and unlimited confidence,” and that 
there was no abatement of it when he retired. The 
event affected the army like the hush of death. 

The loss of the army of Tennessee in killed and 
wounded from the commencement of the campaign to 
the crossing of the Etowah, as reported by Medical Di¬ 
rector Foard, was 3,384, more than half of it in Hood’s 
corps; between the passage of the Etowah and Lost 
Mountain the loss was 2,005, more than half in Hardee’s 
corps. During the entire campaign from Dalton to the 
18th of July, when General Johnston was relieved, the 
losses were, killed 1,221, wounded 8,229; total, 9,450. 
From the 18th of July, when General Hood assumed 
command, to the 1st of September, 1864, the close of the 
campaign, the losses were, killed 1,756, wounded 10,267; 
total, 12,023. 

The Third Tennessee, famous as the regiment organ¬ 
ized and disciplined by Gen. John C. Brown, lost Maj. 
F. C. Barber and Capt. D. G. Alexander, killed at 
Resaca, and later on, at Powder Springs, the gallant Col. 
C. H. Walker fell. Under his command the Third had 
maintained the reputation won at Fort Donelson. At 
Raymond, Miss., under very trying circumstances, he 
commanded the regiment with unsurpassed skill and cour¬ 
age. Maj. JohnP. McGuire, Thirty-second Tennessee, was 
badly wounded, and Lieutenant Waddy killed, at Pow¬ 
der Springs. Capt. J. B. Ward, Fifth, an officer of unusual 
merit, was killed at Resaca. Lieut. John Talley, Ninth, 
fell at Resaca; and all along the line from Dalton to 
Atlanta our brave fellows fell, but on account of the con¬ 
stant movements and change of position of the army no 
reports were made by regimental commanders. At 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY ,i 


135 


the close of the campaign in September, there were few 
of them surviving to record the action of their commands. 

Col. Edmund Cook, Thirty-second, fell at Powder 
Springs. Major-General Stevenson said of him and Col¬ 
onel Walker that they were “models of the Southern sol¬ 
dier and gentleman. ’ ’ Colonel Cook was commanding 
Brown’s brigade when he fell mortally wounded. His 
regiment and brigade were exposed for the want of ade¬ 
quate support on the left and sustained heavy losses; but 
he held his command in place, and by his coolness and 
noble bearing concentrated upon himself the attention of 
his entire command. He was a gifted man, endowed 
with a genius for war as well as for the pursuits of civil 
life. A great career in either was within his reach. 

On assuming command, General Hood reported his 
strength at 48,750 of all arms, including 10,000 cavalry 
and 1,500 Georgia militia. General Cheatham was placed 
in command of Hood’s corps, General Maney in com¬ 
mand of Cheatham’s division. The enemy was in bivouac 
between Atlanta and the Chattahoochee, and was prepar¬ 
ing to advance. 

On the evening of July 18th our cavalry was driven 
across Peachtree creek, and the army of the Cumberland 
was in the act of crossing it; whereupon General Hood 
decided to attack the enemy while attempting to cross 
this stream, and orders were given to advance at 1 p. m. 
of the 20th. The movement was delayed to 4 p. m. and 
resulted in failure and heavy losses. 

On the following night Hardee was moved south on the 
McDonough road with orders to attack at daylight on the 
22d and turn the left of McPherson’s army. The attack 
was made with great energy, General Hood reporting that 
Hardee’s troops “fought with great spirit and determina¬ 
tion, carrying several lines of intrenchments, Wheeler 
attacking on the right. Hardee held the ground he 
gained. Cheatham, commanding Hood’s corps, carried 
the enemy’s intrenchments in his front and captured 


m 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


5 guns and 5 stand of colors. Hardee captured 8 
guns and 13 stand of colors.” This was one of the 
bloodiest and most desperately-fought battles of the war, 
and was the last success of the army of Tennessee. The 
poor result of the combat was the withdrawal of the 
enemy’s left to the Georgia railroad and the investment 
of Atlanta. 

The tribute Tennessee paid was the lives of many of 
her noblest sons. Among the dead was Col. Frank M. 
Walker, Nineteenth regiment, commanding Maney’s bri¬ 
gade, who had won promotion at Kenesaw Mountain. 
His commission as brigadier-general, long deserved, 
arrived the day following his death. Col. C. W. Heiskell, 
who succeeded to the command of the Nineteenth, said 
of him: “Here in the forefront of the battle, in the midst 
of his command, his voice ringing out in words of encour¬ 
agement and command above the sound of rifles, so close 
that the muzzles of the guns of the Confederates almost 
touched those of the enemy, the beloved and chivalrous 
Walker fell; of him it is impossible to speak too highly. ” 
He was an officer of great distinction, of exalted char¬ 
acter, and equal to any position in civil or military life. 

Among the others who fell on the 2 2d were the fearless 
and dashing Capt. Wayne Caldwell and Color-Bearer Ab 
Dinwiddie, of the Fifth; Capt. J. L. Hall, Lieuts. Jesse 
Farrell, G. Robinson and W. H. Morgan, Ninth; Maj. 
P. H. V. Weems, Capt. J. H. Johnson and Lieutenant 
Divny, Eleventh. Capt. W. C. Bryant and Adjt. 
W. C. Whitfield, Twenty-eighth, were killed; Col. D. C. 
Crook and Lieut. William Betty of same regiment were 
severely wounded. Lieut.-Col. John B. Johnson and 
Maj. Kyle Blevins, two young and accomplished officers 
of the Twenty-ninth, were killed. Capt. J. B. Carthell, 
commanding the Twelfth, was killed; a noble man, de¬ 
serving promotion, which would have come to him in a 
few days. Col. W. P. Jones and Lieut.-Col. Henry C. 
McNeill, Thirty-third, were both killed. To them Brig.- 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


lo7 


Gen. Alexander W. Campbell, the first colonel of the reg¬ 
iment, made this tribute: “It may be truly said of them 
and of their regiment, as of all that immortal band which 
will be known in history as Cheatham’s Tennessee divi¬ 
sion, none were braver, none more cheerful in the dis¬ 
charge of duty, nor more patriotic in their devotion to 
the cause they had espoused.” 

Capt. Richard Beard, of the Fifth (Confederate) Ten¬ 
nessee regiment, published the following statement in 
relation to the death of Maj.-Gen. J. B. McPherson, the 
distinguished Federal soldier who fell in the battle of 
the 2 2d of July. Captain Beard was in the line ordered 
by General Cleburne to advance and never halt until the 
breastworks were captured. “We ran through a line of 
skirmishers and took them without firing a gun, and sud¬ 
denly came to the edge of a narrow wagon road running 
parallel with our line of march, and down which General 
McPherson came thundering at the head of his staff. He 
came upon us suddenly. My own company had reached 
the verge of the road when he discovered us. I was so 
near him as to see every feature of his face. I threw up 
my sword as a signal for him to surrender. He checked 
his horse, raised his hat in salute, wheeled to the right 
and dashed off to the rear in a gallop. Corporal Cole¬ 
man, standing near me, was ordered to fire, and it was 
his shot that brought General McPherson down. He was 
passing under the branches of a tree, bending forward, 
when the fatal bullet struck him. It ranged upward and 
passed near the heart. A volley was fired at his fleeing 
staff. I ran up to the general, who had fallen upon his 
knees and face, but no sign of life was perceptible. Right 
by his side lay a signal officer of his staff whose horse had 
been shot from under him, who if hurt at all, was slightly 
wounded. He informed me that the dead man was Gen¬ 
eral McPherson. General Sherman, in his history of the 
campaign, alleged that McPherson’s pocket-book and 
papers were found in the haversack of a prisoner; but 


138 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


his person and effects were not disturbed by my com¬ 
mand. ’ ’ The lines were rapidly changing, and in a few 
minutes McPherson’s body was in the Federal lines. 
Captain Beard was a gentleman before he was a soldier, 
and would not have tolerated a robbery or an indignity 
to the person of the dead general. 

On the 26th Lieut.-Gen. Stephen D. Lee assumed 
command of Hood’s corps, General Cheatham returning 
to his division. In the engagement of the 28th Lieu¬ 
tenant-General Stewart was wounded, and on the 29th 
Cheatham was placed in command of his corps; Briga¬ 
dier-General Maney commanding Cheatham’s division. 
On the 13th of August General Stewart resumed com¬ 
mand of his corps, and a sick leave was granted to Gen¬ 
eral Cheatham, which continued until after the battle of 
Jonesboro. 

On the morning of July 28th the enemy moved out to 
our left and gained the Lickskillet road. At 11 a. m. 
Lee’s corps was ordered to check the movement. Brig.- 
Gen. John C. Brown, commanding Hindman’s division, 
with Clayton’s division on his right, advanced and drove 
the enemy across the road and to a distance a half mile 
beyond, where he encountered temporary breastworks, 
from which he was repulsed with heavy loss. Clayton 
advanced ten minutes later and was driven back; then 
Walthall’s division of Stewart’s corps, under instructions 
from General Lee, assaulted the position from which 
Brown and Clayton had just been driven. 

General Walthall reported that “Brigadier-General 
Quarles (with his brigade of Tennesseeans) made a bold 
and bloody assault, but his command was checked by the 
strong force in his front and the unopposed troops which 
lapped his left and poured into it a damaging flank fire. ’ ’ 
“If,’’ said General Walthall, “it had been possible for the 
daring of officers and the desperate fighting of the men 
to have overcome such odds in numbers and strength of 
position as we encountered all along my whole line, the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


139 


enemy would have been beaten, but double the force 
could not have accomplished what my division was ordered 
to undertake. ’' 

Among the killed of Quarles' brigade was Col. John R. 
White, Fifty-third Tennessee. Major Richardson, who 
succeeded to the command of the regiment, was mortally 
wounded, and the gallant Lieut.-Col. Joseph D. Wilson 
was desperately wounded and reported killed by the bri¬ 
gade commander. “They fell,” said General Quarles, 
“in front of their regiments, leading them on the enemy’s 
works. Truer and more earnest patriots never lived, 
and the purity of their private characters gracefully soft¬ 
ened the ruder virtues of the soldier.” Col. W. F. 
Young, Forty-ninth, was so severely wounded that the 
amputation of his right arm was necessary. The five 
officers next in rank to him were shot down, and the sev¬ 
enth, Capt. Thomas H. Smith, took command of the reg¬ 
iment. Lieut. Ashton Johnson, aide-de-camp to General 
Quarles, was killed, and Polk G. Johnson, of his staff, 
was wounded. The latter, unable to mount his horse, 
obtained permission to serve one of the guns of Yates’ 
battery then in action. Rev. J. H. McNeily, chaplain 
of the Forty-ninth, followed his regiment to the field. 
General Quarles said of him that “he was everywhere to 
be seen, ministering to the physical and spiritual comfort 
of the dying and wounded. 

Under orders the troops were withdrawn at nightfall 
within our line of works, upon which, from the 28th of 
July to the 6th of August, the enemy made gradual 
approaches and assaults; but all of his attacks were re¬ 
pulsed, the most notable being that made on the 6th on 
Tyler’s Tennessee and Georgia brigade of Bate’s divi¬ 
sion. This brigade, holding an intrenched skirmish line, 
sustained and repulsed three assaults of the enemy, in 
which his loss was, in killed and wounded and prisoners 
from 800 to 1,000 men, besides two colors and 300 to 40c* 
stand of small-arms and all of his intrenching tools. 


140 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Tyler’s brigade lost 20 killed and wounded. General 
Lee, to whom Bate was reporting, issued a special order 
commending the conduct of the division, particularly 
Tyler’s brigade, and said: ‘'Soldiers who fight with the 
coolness and determination that these men did will 
always be victorious over any reasonable number. ” The 
troops engaged in this affair were the Second Tennessee, 
Col. William D. Robison; Tenth, Col. William Grace; 
Fifteenth and Thirty-seventh, Lieut.-Col. R. Dudley 
Frayser; Twentieth, Lieut.-Col. W. M. Shy; Thirtieth, 
Lieut.-Col. James J. Turner; Thirty-seventh Georgia, 
Lieut.-Col. Joseph T. Smith; Fourth battalion Georgia 
sharpshooters, Capt. B. M. Turner; that intrepid soldier, 
Gen. Thomas Benton Smith, of Tennessee, commanding. 

On the evening of the 30th of August the enemy 
reached the vicinity of Jonesboro. General Hood was 
deluded into the belief that the movement was made by 
two corps and that the Federal army was still in front 
of Atlanta. Hardee’s and Lee’s corps were ordered to 
Jonesboro, Hardee in command, Hood remaining at 
Atlanta. Cleburne, in command of Hardee’s corps, was 
in position at 9 o’clock. Lee was in position at 11 o’clock 
a. m. of the 31st, after an all-night march, delayed 
because of the fact that Cleburne had encountered the 
enemy on his march. General Hood’s order was to attack 
the enemy and drive him across Flint river, but instead 
of two army corps, Hardee found in his front the Federal 
army, except the Twentieth corps left at Chattahoochee 
bridge. Lee attacked the enemy behind works and 
was repulsed, falling back with a loss of 1,300 killed 
and wounded. Cleburne carried the temporary works of 
the enemy. A portion of his corps had crossed Flint 
river and captured two pieces of artillery, which he was 
unable to bring over the river. The enemy threatening 
an attack on Lee’s corps, Cleburne’s division under Brig.- 
Gen. M. P. Lowrey was dispatched to support Lee, while 
Maney, commanding Cheatham’s division, occupied 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


141 


Lowrey’s position. Hardee was on the defensive. At 
night Lee’s corps was ordered by General Hood to return, 
his dispatch stating that “the enemy may make an attack 
on Atlanta to-morrow.” On the ist of September Har¬ 
dee’s corps received repeated assaults made by Sherman’s 
army, but he succeeded in maintaining his position and 
enabled General Hood to withdraw from Atlanta. At 
night Hardee retired four miles to Lovejoy’s Station, 
where the army was concentrated. 

On the ist of September Brig.-Gen. John C. Carter 
commanded Cheatham’s division; on the 31st of August 
and the istof September Col. Geo. C. Porter commanded 
Maney’s brigade, and Col. James D. Tillman commanded 
Strahl’s. Brig.-Gen. George W. Gordon commanded 
Vaughan’s, known hereafter as Gordon’s, and on the ist 
Col. John H. Anderson commanded Carter’s brigade. 

On the second day of the battle of Jonesboro, Carter 
drove the enemy back and retook the works in which a 
part of Govan’s brigade of Cleburne’s division had been 
captured. Gordon’s brigade was most exposed, and 
maintained the reputation acquired under the leadership 
of Smith and Vaughan. The enemy, in vastly superior 
numbers, was held in check until night closed the battle, 
and Gordon covered the retreat to Lovejoy’s Station. 

Col. A. J. Long, Eleventh Tennessee, was mortally 
wounded, and Capt. J. H. Darden killed—true and faithful 
soldiers, said General Gordon, greatly beloved and deeply 
lamented. The Third lost the gallant Col. Calvin J. Clack, 
promoted to the command of the regiment after the fall 
of Colonel Walker near Marietta. The veteran Tenth 
mourned the loss of Col. William Grace, mortally wounded, 
who in his last hours gave expression to a single regret, 
that he could no longer serve the cause he loved so well. 
The chaplain of his regiment, Father Blieml, was killed 
while administering the sacrament of extreme unction 
to the dying on the field. 

Tyler’s brigade was hurled against the intrenched posi- 


142 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


tion of the enemy, protected by an abatis, well-served 
artillery and two lines of infantry, and it was, said Lieut. - 
Col. James J. Turner, Thirtieth, a fatal charge, the com¬ 
mand losing one-third of its strength in killed and 
wounded. Capt. J. H. Turner, Thirtieth, gallantly lead¬ 
ing his company forward, received four mortal wounds 
almost in an instant, and Colonel Turner was twice 
wounded and disabled. 

General Hood telegraphed General Bragg on Septem¬ 
ber 5th the following account of the battle: “To let you 
know what a disgraceful effort was made by our men in 
the engagement of August 31st, I give you the wounded 
in the two corps: Hardee’s, 539, Lee’s, 946; killed, a very 
small number.’’ Many times during the months of July 
and August the troops from Tennessee had made fruit¬ 
less assaults against the enemy’s intrenchments; their 
ranks had been decimated at Peachtree Creek and at the 
battle of Atlanta, heralded as a great victory, and the 
right of Quarles’ brigade was slaughtered at the affair on 
Lickskillet road. It took that high order of courage 
which they exhibited in the face of these disheartening 
disasters for Long and Clack and Grace and Darden and 
Turner to lead their men up to the enemy’s intrench¬ 
ments, over his abatis, defended by five times their num¬ 
ber, into the very jaws of death—there to die, surrounded 
by a third of their comrades killed or wounded. 

Then, almost before the wounded were gathered from 
the field or the dead buried in unmarked graves, the 
general commanding records his displeasure at their con¬ 
duct because the harvest of death was not more abundant. 


CHAPTER X. 


THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST SHERMAN’S BASE — ALLA- 
TOONA AND DALTON—HOOD’S CAMPAIGN IN TEN¬ 
NESSEE—SPRING HILL—RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE 
LOST OPPORTUNITY—THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 
—SIEGE OF MURFREESBORO—SIEGE AND BATTLE 
OF NASHVILLE—RETREAT TO MISSISSIPPI. 


G ENERAL HOOD continued in position at Lovejoy’s 
Station until the 18th of September, when he 
moved toward the West Point railroad and formed 
a line of battle near Palmetto. Here Lieutenant-General 
Hardee was at his own request removed from command 
of. his corps, and was succeeded by Major-General 
Cheatham. 

On the 29th Hood crossed the Chattahoochee at Pump- 
kintown and Phillips’ ferry, the army being made to 
understand by the commanding general that this move¬ 
ment was not in retreat, but that his purpose was to draw 
the Federal army out of Atlanta and force Sherman to 
attack him in position. Hood continued his march as 
far north as Dalton, then moved westward to Gadsden 
and thence to Tuscumbia, Ala., where the army was 
halted for three weeks. When the Federal army retired 
from the front of Lovejoy’s Station, General Hood’s con¬ 
ception of the campaign was embodied in a dispatch to the 
secretary of war, dated September 6, 1864, “Sherman 
continues his retreat beyond Jonesboro;’’ but in fact, 
after Hood moved across the Chattahoochee, Sherman 
pursued him to Gaylesville, Ala., then returned to 
Atlanta, and on the 15th of November began his march 
through Georgia to the sea. 

Stewart’s corps captured the garrisons at Big Shanty 
and Acworth, and General French attacked Allatoona, 


143 


144 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


but when success was near at hand the appearance of 
heavy reinforcements caused him to withdraw. Cheat¬ 
ham made a demonstration on Dalton with Strahl’s bri¬ 
gade, and the garrison, 1,200 strong, surrendered uncon¬ 
ditionally; and at the same time General Bate, under 
orders of Cheatham, demanded the surrender of a for¬ 
midable blockhouse a few miles distant. The bearer of 
the flag, the gallant Capt. H. J. Cheney, had his horse 
killed under him. The flag was not recognized, where¬ 
upon General Bate advanced his artillery and opened fire. 
The first shell entered a porthole, killing fifteen or 
twenty of the garrison, and the white flag was run up. 

General Beauregard, commanding the military division 
of the West, in forwarding to the war department the 
report of General Hood’s operations in the Tennessee 
campaign, under date of January 9, 1865, said: “The 
plan of the campaign into middle Tennessee was correct 
as originally designed by General Hood, and if carried 
out without modification, would have compelled General 
Sherman to return to middle Tennessee to protect and 
repair his lines of communication before he could have 
collected enough supplies to march his army from Atlanta 
to the seacoast. But instead of crossing the Tennessee 
river at Guntersville, as General Hood had intended 
when at Gadsden [where General Beauregard had an 
interview with him], he changed his course while on the 
march and repaired to Tuscumbia and Florence,’’ where 
three precious weeks were spent, enabling Sherman to 
repair the road to Chattanooga and collect his supplies 
for the march to the sea, at the same time affording time 
to General Thomas, who had been sent to Tennessee, 
for the concentration of an army at Nashville strong 
enough to crush Hood even if he had avoided Franklin. 

Marching through the beautiful valley of the Tennessee 
over which Sherman had carried his army to reinforce 
Grant at Chattanooga, our army was appalled at its des¬ 
olation. Sherman’s iron hand had destroyed it—old men, 


1 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


145 


non-combatants, women, children, faithful slaves, were 
reduced to want. General Hood published an order to 
the troops directing their attention to the ruin of this fair 
land, and appealing to their manhood to recover the 
State of Tennessee. The torch, not the sword, had 
caused this great destitution and made a desert of the 
valley. In many parts it was unoccupied. The inhab¬ 
itants, robbed of cattle, horses, mules, and the implements 
of husbandry destroyed, were fugitives from their own 
homes without having committed a crime, forced into an 
“exile without an end, and without an example in story.” 

On the 21 st of November General Hood began his march 
to Nashville; on the 29th crossed Duck river three miles 
above Columbia, and then, with Cheatham’s and Stew¬ 
art’s corps and a division of Lee’s corps, marched to 
Spring Hill. 

Cheatham was in front, and in his official report, dated 
December 11, 1864, General Hood stated that “Major- 
General Cheatham was ordered at once to attack the 
enemy vigorously and get possession of this pike [the 
road to Franklin], and although these orders were fre¬ 
quently and earnestly repeated, he made but a feeble and 
partial attack, failing to reach the point indicated.’’ 
Again, in his history of the campaign (“Advance and 
Retreat,” pp. 285,286) it is related: “General Stewart 
was then ordered to proceed to the right of Cheatham 
and place his corps across the pike north of Spring Hill. 
By this hour, however, twilight was upon us, when Gen¬ 
eral Cheatham rode up in person. I at once directed 
Stewart to halt, and turning to Cheatham I exclaimed 
with deep, emotion, as I felt the golden opportunity fast 
slipping from me, ‘General, why in the name of God 
have you not attacked the enemy and taken possession of 
the pike?’” Lieutenant-General Stewart, referring to 
this statement in a published letter, says that “no such 
exclamation by Hood to Cheatham could have been made 
in my presence. ” 

Tr>rm 10 


146 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Major-General Cheatham gave the following account 
of the affair at Spring Hill: 

In pursuance of orders from army headquarters, my 
command crossed Duck river on the morning of the 29th 
of November, 1864, the division of Major-General Cle¬ 
burne in advance, followed by that of Major-General 
Bate, the division of Major-General Brown in the rear. 
The march was made as rapidly as the condition of the 
road would allow and without occurrence of note, until 
about 3 o’clock p. m., when I arrived at Rutherford’s 
creek, two and one-half miles from Spring Hill. At this 
point General Hood gave me verbal orders as follows: 
That I should get Cleburne across the creek and send him 
forward toward Spring Hill, with instructions to com¬ 
municate with General Forrest, who was near the village, 
ascertain from him the position of the enemy, and attack 
immediately; that I should remain at the creek, assist 
General Bate in crossing his division, and then go for¬ 
ward and put Bate’s command in to support Cleburne, 
and that he would push Brown forward to join me. 

As soon as the division of General Bate had crossed the 
creek I rode forward, and at a point on the road, about 
one and a half mile from Spring Hill, I saw the left of 
Cleburne’s command just disappearing over the hill to 
the left of the road. Halting there, I waited a few min¬ 
utes for the arrival of Bate, and formed his command 
with his right upon the position of Cleburne’s left, and 
ordered him forward to the support of Cleburne. Shortly 
after Bate’s division had disappeared over the same 
range of hills, I heard firing toward Cleburne’s right and 
just then General Brown’s division had come up. I 
thereupon ordered Brown to proceed to the right, turn 
the range of hills over which Cleburne and Bate had 
crossed, and form line of battle and attack to the right 
of Cleburne. The division of General Brown was in 
motion to execute this order when I received a message 
from Cleburne that his right brigade had been struck in 
flank by the enemy and had suffered severely, and that 
he had been compelled to fall back and reform his divi¬ 
sion with a change of front. 

It so happened that the direction of Cleburne’s advance 
was such as had exposed his right flank to the enemy’s 
line. When his command was formed on the road by 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


147 


which he had marched from Rutherford’s creek, neither 
the village of Spring Hill nor the turnpike could be seen. 
Instead of advancing directly upon Spring Hill, his for¬ 
ward movement was a little south of west and almost 
parallel with the turnpike toward Columbia, instead of 
northwest upon the enemy’s lines, south and east of the 
village. A reference to the map will show Cleburne’s 
line of advance. General Cleburne was killed in the 
assault upon Franklin the next day, and I had no oppor¬ 
tunity to learn from him how it was that the error of 
direction occurred. 

Meanwhile General Bate, whom I had placed in posi¬ 
tion on the left of Cleburne’s line of march, continued to 
move forward in the same direction until he had reached 
the farm of N. F. Cheairs, one and a half mile south of 
Spring Hill. 

After Brown had reached the position indicated to him 
and had formed a line of battle, he sent to inform me 
that it would be certain disaster for him to attack, as the 
enemy’s line extended beyond his right several hundred 
yards. I sent word to him to throw back his right bri¬ 
gade and make the attack. I had already sent couriers 
after General Bate to bring him back and direct him to 
join Cleburne’s left. Going to the right of my line I 
found Generals Brown and Cleburne, and the latter 
reported that he had reformed his division. I then gave 
orders to Brown and Cleburne that as soon as they could 
connect their lines they should attack the enemy, who 
were then in sight; informing them at the same time 
that General Hood had just told me that Stewart’s col¬ 
umn was close at hand, and that General Stewart had 
been ordered to go to my right and place his command 
across the pike. I furthermore said to them that I would 
go myself and see that General Bate was placed in posi¬ 
tion to connect with them, and immediately rode to the 
left of my line for that purpose. 

During all this time I had met and talked with General 
Hood repeatedly, our field headquarters being not over 
ioo yards apart. After Cleburne’s repulse I had been 
along my line and had seen that Brown’s right was out¬ 
flanked several hundred yards. I had urged General 
Hood to hurry up Stewart and place him on my right. 


148 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


and had received from him the assurance that this would 
be done; and this assurance, as before stated, I had com¬ 
municated to Generals Cleburne and Brown. 

When I returned from my left, where I had been to 
get Bate in position, and was on the way to the right of 
my line, it was dark; but I intended to move forward 
with Cleburne and Brown and make the attack, knowing 
that Bate would be in position to support them. Stew¬ 
art’s column had already passed by on the way toward 
the turnpike, and I presumed he would be in position 
on my right. 

On reaching the road where General Hood’s field quar¬ 
ters had been established, I found a courier with a mes¬ 
sage from General Hood requesting me to come to him at 
Captain Thompson’s house, about one and a fourth miles 
back on the road to Rutherford’s creek. I found Gen¬ 
eral Stewart and General Hood. The commanding gen¬ 
eral there informed me that he had concluded to wait till 
morning, and directed me to hold my command in readi¬ 
ness to attack at daylight. 

I was never more astonished than when General Hood 
informed me that he had concluded to postpone the attack 
till daylight. The road was still open—orders to remain 
quiet until morning—and nothing to prevent the enemy 
from marching to Franklin. 

The following communication, written by Governor 
(afterward Senator) Harris of Tennessee, then acting as 
aide to General Hood, is a valuable contribution to the 
history of this campaign. It is copied from Drake’s 
“Annals of the Army of Tennessee,’’ for May, 1877. A 
copy was furnished to General Hood: 

Gov. James D. Porter: 

Dear Sir: In answer to yours of the 12th instant, I 
have to say that on the night that the army of Tennes¬ 
see, under command of Gen. J. B. Hood, halted at Spring 
Hill on its march from Columbia to Nashville, General 
Hood, his adjutant-general, Major Mason, and myself 
occupied the same room at the residence of Captain 
Thompson, near the village. Late at night we were 
aroused by a private soldier, who reported to General 
Hood that on reaching the camp near Spring Hill he 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


149 


found himself within the Federal lines; that the troops 
were in great confusion, a part of them were marching 
in the direction of Franklin, others had turned toward 
Columbia, and that the road was blocked with baggage- 
wagons and gun-carriages, rendering it impossible to 
move in order in either direction. Upon the receipt of 
this report, General Hood directed Major Mason to order 
General Cheatham to move down on the road immedi¬ 
ately and attack the enemy. General Hood and myself 
remained in bed. I went to sleep, and I supposed that 
General Hood did the same. At daylight on the follow¬ 
ing morning we learned that the Federal army had left 
Spring Hill and was being concentrated at Franklin. 

On the march to Franklin, General Hood spoke to me, 
in the presence of Major Mason, of the failure of General 
Cheatham to make the night attack at Spring Hill, and 
censured him in severe terms for his disobedience of 
orders. Soon after this, being alone with Major Mason, 
the latter remarked that “General Cheatham was not to 
blame about the matter last night. I did not send him 
the order. ’ ’ I asked if he had communicated the fact to 
General Hood. He answered that he had not. I replied 
that it is due to General Cheatham that this explanation 
should be made. Thereupon Major Mason joined Gen¬ 
eral Hood and gave him the information. Afterward 
General Hood said to me that he had done injustice to 
General Cheatham, and requested me to inform him that 
he held him blameless for the failure at Spring Hill. 
And, on the day following the battle of Franklin, I was 
informed by General Hood that he had addressed a note 
to General Cheatham, assuring him that he did not cen¬ 
sure or charge him with the failure to make the attack. 

Very respectfully, 

Isham G. Harris. 

Memphis, Tenn., May 20, 1877. 

Maj.-Gen. John C. Brown, commanding Cheatham’s 
division, gave the following account of the same affair: 

My division comprised four brigades of infantry, com¬ 
manded respectively by Gen. S. R. Gist, of South Caro¬ 
lina, Gens. O. F. Strahl, G. W. Gordon and John C. 
Carter, of Tennessee. The whole command on the morn¬ 
ing of November 29, 1864, when I left my bivouac on the 


150 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Mooresville turnpike in front of Columbia, Tenn., num¬ 
bered not exceeding 2,750 effective men. Gist’s brigade 
was the largest and Strahl’s was next in numerical 
strength; those of Gordon and Carter being about equal 
in the number of effective men. We started on the march 
about sunrise, and after traversing cedar brakes and 
pathless woods, crossed Duck river by a pontoon previ¬ 
ously laid, about four miles above Columbia, at or near 
what was known as Davis’ ferry or Davis’ ford. Con¬ 
forming to the daily alternations, my division was the 
rear of your (Cheatham’s) corps. After crossing Duck 
river, as I now recollect, at or near Bear creek, the com¬ 
manding general, apprehending an attack on our left 
flank, ordered your corps, in its march from that point, 
to move in two parallel columns, so that it could come 
instantly into action in two lines of battle if attacked on 
the flank. Accordingly, my division was ordered to form 
the supporting column, and for that purpose to leave 
the road by which the main body was moving, and so 
conform its movements to that of the other two divisions 
(Cleburne’s and Bate’s), that in coming into action to 
meet an attack on our left flank, it would occupy a place 
in rear of and about 400 yards distant from the front line 
of battle. The march thence to Rutherford’s creek was 
made pursuant to these orders, and the whole distance 
thus traversed (five or six miles) was through fields and 
woods and over rough ground, adding greatly to the 
fatigues of the day. About the commencement of this 
movement, or soon afterward, by the orders of the 
commanding general in person, the whole of Gist’s and 
about one-half of Strahl’s brigade were detached for 
picket duty, to be relieved by the orders of the com¬ 
manding general, thus leaving me with about one-half of 
my division. 

When near Rutherford’s creek, learning that a crossing 
was not practicable east of the road, I changed the 
direction of the march to the left into the road and found 
Bate’s division preparing to cross the stream. After 
reaching the north bank of the stream, I was ordered to 
pursue the road leading in the direction of the Caldwell 
place, while Cleburne’s and Bate’s divisions moved at an 
angle to the left; but before reaching the Dr. Caldwell 
house, I was ordered to change the direction of my col¬ 
umn to the left, and we reached the “Lewisburg, ” or 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


151 


“Rally Hill” pike, near the toll-gate, a distance of one 
and a half mile from Spring Hill. This was within an 
hour or an hour and a half of sunset. I could distinctly 
see the enemy in force, both infantry and artillery, at 
Spring Hill, but did not, and perhaps could not at that 
point, see either troops or wagons, moving on the Colum¬ 
bia pike. Forrest’s cavalry were on higher ground north¬ 
east of my position. I was ordered to form line of battle 
and “take” Spring Hill. Gist’s brigade and the detach¬ 
ment from Strahl had not reported. I formed my line as 
speedily as worn troops could move, and after throwing 
forward a skirmish line, advanced 400 or 500 yards, when 
I discovered a line of the enemy thrown out of Spring 
Hill, across and threatening my right flank, and I then 
discovered for the first time that General Forrest’s cav¬ 
alry, which I had been assured would protect my right, 
had been ordered to another part of the field, leaving me 
without any protection on my right flank or support in 
rear. I had neither artillery nor cavalry, and was left in 
a position where I must meet with inevitable disaster if I 
advanced on Spring Hill. A hasty consultation with my 
brigade commanders resulted in a determination to sus¬ 
pend the advance and confer with the corps commander. 
I need not remind you that in a very few minutes you 
were upon the field and fully approved of what had been 
done, as did also General Hood a little later, when he 
directed that the attack should be delayed until the arrival 
of Generals Stewart and Gist, and in the meanwhile, that 
the whole command should be held under orders to 
advance at a moment’s notice. General Gist’s brigade 
reported a little after nightfall and was immediately 
placed in position on my right. General Stewart’s corps 
came up later and went into bivouac on the stream in 
rear of my right, where it remained until the following 
morning. I received no further orders that evening or 
during the night to advance or change my position. 
After daylight on the morning of the 30th I took up the 
line of march for Franklin, the enemy in the meantime 
having preceded us under circumstances of which you 
are fully advised. 

On the march to Franklin, General Cleburne, with 
whom I had long enjoyed very close personal relations, 
sent a message to the head of my column requesting an 
interview. Allowing my column to pass on, I awaited 


152 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


his arrival. When he came np we rode apart from the 
column through the fields, and he told me with much 
feeling that he had heard that the commanding general 
was endeavoring to place upon him the responsibility of 
allowing the enemy to pass our position on the night 
previous. I replied to him that I had heard nothing on 
that subject and that I hoped he was mistaken. He said, 
“No, I think not; my information comes through a very 
reliable channel/’ and said that he could not afford to 
rest under such an imputation, and should certainly 
have the matter investigated to the fullest extent, as soon 
as we were away from the immediate presence of the 
enemy. General Cleburne was quite angry and evidently 
was deeply hurt, under the conviction that the com¬ 
mander-in-chief had censured him. I asked General Cle¬ 
burne who was responsible for the escape of the enemy 
during the afternoon and night previous. In reply to 
that inquiry he indulged in some criticisms of a command 
(Bate’s division) occupying a position on his left, and 
concluded by saying that of course the responsibility rests 
with the commander-in-chief, as he was upon the field 
during the afternoon and was fully advised during the 
night of the movement of the enemy. The conversation 
at this point was abruptly terminated by the arrival of 
orders from yourself or the commanding general. As he 
left he said, “We will resume this conversation at the first 
convenient moment, ’ ’ but in less than three hours after 
that time this gallant soldier was a corpse upon the 
bloody field of Franklin. 

Major-General Bate, referring to an interview with 
General Hood between the hours of io and 12 of the 
night of the 29th of November, at which General Bate 
mentioned a conflict in the orders of the general com¬ 
manding and the corps commander touching the move¬ 
ment of his division, relates that General Hood said: “It 
makes no difference now, or it is all right, anyhow, for 
General Forrest, as you see, has just left and informed 
me that he holds the turnpike with a portion of his forces 
north of Spring Hill, and will stop the enemy if he tries 
to pass toward Franklin, and so in the morning we will 





N 



MAP OF THE BATTLE-FIELD OF FRANKLIN, TENNESSEE. FROM THE “BIVOUAC’’ FOR JUNE, 1885. 













































CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


153 


have a surrender without a fight. ” He further said in a 
congratulatory manner, “We can sleep quietly to-night.” 

General Forrest reported that after the arrival of Cle¬ 
burne’s division at Spring Hill, “I ordered Brig.-Gen. 
W. H. Jackson to move with his division in the direction 
of Thompson’s Station and there intercept the enemy. 
He struck the road at Fitzgerald’s, four miles from 
Spring Hill, at 11 o’clock, just as the front of the enemy’s 
column had passed. This attack was a complete surprise, 
producing much panic and confusion. Brigadier-General 
Jackson had possession of the pike and fought the enemy 
until daylight, but receiving no support he was compelled 
to retire.” Two small brigades, commanded by Briga¬ 
dier-Generals Armstrong and Ross, constituted Jackson’s 
division. If an adequate force had been sent forward to 
take advantage of the panic and confusion created by 
Jackson’s attack, a second golden opportunity would not 
have been lost. 

The first intimation of dissatisfaction on the part of 
the commanding general at the management of the affair 
at Spring Hill was suggested by the receipt of the fol¬ 
lowing note, written in front of Nashville and dated 
December 3, 1864: 

My Dear General: I do not censure you for the failure 
at Spring Hill. I am satisfied that you are not respon¬ 
sible for it. I witnessed the splendid manner in which 
you delivered battle at Franklin on the 30th ult., and I 
now have a higher estimate of you as a soldier than 
I ever had. Yours very truly, 

J. B. Hood, General. 

Maj.-Gen. B. F. Cheatham. 

“On the morning of the 4th of December,” says Gen¬ 
eral Cheatham, “I went to the headquarters of General 
Hood, and referring to his note and the criticism that had 
evidently been made by some one, I said to him, ‘A 
great opportunity was lost at Spring Hill, but you know 
that I obeyed your orders there, as everywhere, literally 


154 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


and promptly. ’ General Hood not only did not dissent 
from what I said, but exhibited the most cordial manner, 
coupled with confidence and friendship.” 

At daylight Cheatham’s corps passed through the vil¬ 
lage of Spring Hill, and between i and 2 o’clock p. m. 
the army reached the vicinity of Franklin, and Stewart’s 
and Cheatham’s corps were put in positions. The enemy 
was heavily intrenched and was superior in numbers and 
equipment. On the morning of the battle, General 
Schofield, commanding the Federal army, had behind his 
works 23,734 infantry and artillery, and his cavalry num¬ 
bered 5,500. Maj.-Gen. J. D. Cox, U. S. A., upon whose 
authority these figures are given, states in his history of 
the battle of Franklin that Hood delivered the assault 
on the Federal lines with “two or three hundred less than 
24,000” men, and gives Forrest’s strength at 9,000. Maj.- 
Gen. John C. Brown reported that on the morning of 
November 29, 1864, he had not exceeding 2,750 men in 
his division, the largest in Cheatham’s corps, and the 
three divisions did not exceed 6,000. Smith’s brigade of 
Cleburne’s division was not present. Stewart’s corps 
after Allatoona was less than 7,000, and with Johnson’s 
division of Lee’s corps, the assaulting column did not 
exceed 16,000 men. General Forrest stated in his official 
report that the entire cavalry force under his command 
was about 5,000. 

Bate’s division was on the left, Brown’s in the center, 
Cleburne’s on the right. General Bate says his line 
“charged the works of the enemy. My right got to the 
works (the second line) and remained there until morn¬ 
ing; the left was driven back. The enemy’s works were 
strong and defiant, constructed on a slight elevation, 
with few obstructions in front for several hundred yards. 
The works to the left of Carter’s creek turnpike were not 
strong, and with a vigorous assault should have been car¬ 
ried; a fact, however, not known until next day. ” Bate’s 
division sustained a loss of 47 killed and 253 wounded. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY,\ 


155 


Capt. Todd Carter, on staff duty with Smith’s Tennes¬ 
see brigade, fell mortally wounded near the enemy’s 
works and almost at the door of his father’s house. 

No more magnificent spectacle was ever witnessed than 
the advance of the two divisions commanded by Cleburne 
and Brown; no two divisions of the army were ever led 
with greater skill and gallantry; no generals of division 
were ever supported with better ability by brigade, regi¬ 
mental and company officers. The troops were veterans 
who had never failed to respond to orders, although dis¬ 
couraged by recent and frequent disasters; and fully 
alive to the desperation of the assault about to be made, 
they advanced with noble courage. Before troops of 
equal numbers in the open field they would have been 
irresistible, but to attack intrenched troops, superior in 
numbers, advancing over an open plain without cover, 
was a disregard of the rules of war, a waste of precious 
lives, and a wrecking of an army once the pride and 
hope of the Southwest. 

Major-General Stanley, commanding the Fourth Fed¬ 
eral corps, in his official report stated that: “In view of 
the strong position we held, nothing appeared so improb¬ 
able as that they would assault. I felt so confident in this 
belief that I did not leave General Schofield’s headquar¬ 
ters until the firing commenced.’’ Major-General Cox, 
commanding the Twenty-third corps, and in active com¬ 
mand of the Federal line of battle, undertakes to account 
for the attack made by General Hood thus: “His exas¬ 
peration at what he regarded as a hair’s breadth escape 
on our part from the toils in which he thought he had 
encompassed us at Spring Hill had probably clouded his 
judgment. He blamed some of his subordinates for the 
hesitation which he seems himself to have been responsi¬ 
ble for, and now, in an excitement which led him astray, 
he determined to risk everything upon a desperate 
assault.” The same eminent author, referring to the 
assault made by Cleburne and Brown on the Federal 


156 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


center, says: “They were seen coming in splendid array. 
The sight was one to send a thrill through the heart, and 
those who saw it have never forgotten its martial mag¬ 
nificence. “ 

Maj.-Gen. John C. Brown, in a report to General 
Cheatham of the operations of his command, said: 

After we had dislodged the enemy’s advance pickets 
from the chain of ridges in front of Franklin, Generals 
Bate and Cleburne and myself were summoned to the 
commanding general at a point very near the Columbia 
turnpike road, and, as I recollect, both yourself and Gen¬ 
eral Stewart were present. From that point we had an 
unobstructed view of the enemy’s works in front of 
Franklin, across the turnpike road, and for some distance 
to the right and left. My position was immediately on 
the left of the turnpike, while Cleburne was upon the 
right. General Bate’s position was either in my rear or 
immediately upon my left. 

The commanding general, after surveying the field, 
remarked in substance, “The country around Franklin 
for many miles is open and exposed to the full view of 
the Federal army, and I cannot mask the movements of 
my troops so as to turn either flank of the enemy, and 
if I attempt it he will withdraw and precede me into 
Nashville. While his immediate center is very strong, 
his flanks are weak. Stewart’s corps is massed in 
McGavock’s woods on the right, and I will send Bate’s 
division under cover of the hills to the left in advance of 
the movement of my center; giving him time sufficient 
to get into position to attack concurrently with the center 
column, fie can connect with Chalmers’ right (posted 
upon the Harpeth below Franklin) and with Brown’s 
left.’’ The policy of General Hood’s decision was not 
discussed, and I cannot recollect any question propounded 
by him to any one present indicating a desire for an 
expression of opinion by any one. He thereupon ordered 
Bate to move at once, and directed Stewart to attack 
with his corps the enemy's left flank. Cleburne and 
myself were directed to form in conjunction, Cleburne 
on the right and I on the left of the turnpike, and 
threaten and (if not routed before we reached the works) 
attack the enemy’s center; but were instructed not to 





CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


157 


move until further orders from him, as he desired Bate 
and Stewart, having a longer distance to march, to move 
in advance of us. 

After the expiration of half an hour or more, at a sig¬ 
nal from yourself, Cleburne and myself were directed to 
commence our movement. We advanced our line, 
attacking simultaneously the enemy’s front line of works 
(being a lunette some 400 or 500 yards in advance of the 
main works). We routed and drove that line back upon 
the enemy’s main line with but slight loss to ourselves 
and without impeding the advance of our line. General 
Cleburne and myself met several times upon the turnpike 
road and conferred and acted in harmony in the move¬ 
ment. When we assaulted the main line, we carried the 
works in many places. General Gordon, commanding 
the right brigade of my front line, stormed and carried 
the enemy’s works at the turnpike road and advanced a 
considerable distance within the works, when he and a 
part of his command were captured. The enemy rap¬ 
idly reinforced his center from his flanks, and the 
slaughter in our ranks was frightful, considering the very 
short time in which we were engaged. The loss was so 
heavy to my front line that I immediately brought for¬ 
ward the supporting brigades (Strahl’s and Carter’s), and 
we held the works in a hand-to-hand fight, with varying 
fortune, until night closed upon the bloody conflict. 
The engagement lasted but little more than one hour, 
during which time the fire of the enemy’s infantry was ter¬ 
rific. Generals Gist and Strahl were killed on the field, 
with nearly all of their staff officers. General Carter 
received a mortal wound from which he died in a few 
hours. When I was shot from my horse near nightfall, 
I had only one staff officer and two couriers on duty. 

General Carter, whose command was on my extreme 
left, reported to me once through a member of his staff, 
and again in person, that there were no supports on his 
left and that flank was being threatened, and on personal 
inspection I found that there were no troops on my left 
at sunset. I regret very much that the loss of my papers 
will not allow me to give you in detail the list of casual¬ 
ties and to mention the conduct of very many officers 
and men conspicuous for their gallantry during the 
engagement. It is just to say, however, that the entire 
command did its full duty. The enemy were intrenched 


158 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


in strong works protected in front by an abatis of black 
locust, which was almost impassable, and our advancing 
lines were met by successive volleys of musketry that 
would have repulsed any but well-tried and dauntless 
veterans. 

Gist’s and Gordon’s brigades reached the outer ditch 
of the intrenchments, mounted the works and met the 
enemy in a death struggle. The colors of the Twenty- 
fourth South Carolina, says its gallant Col. Ellison 
Capers, were planted and defended on the parapet. Part 
of both brigades went over the works, General Gordon 
himself was captured, and Col. Horace Rice, Eleventh 
and Twenty-ninth Tennessee (consolidated), was wounded 
inside of the enemy’s main line. General Gordon states 
that “the gallant Ensign-Sergeant Drew, of the Twenty- 
ninth, bearing the flag of the Eleventh, was killed as he 
mounted the main line of works, fell inside and died 
upon his colors, upon whose folds are still seen marks of 
his blood. ’ ’ 

Lieut. James A. Tillman, Twenty-fourth South Caro¬ 
lina, led his company over the works and captured 40 
prisoners and the colors of the Ninety-seventh Ohio, this 
being the only stand of colors captured by the Confed¬ 
erate forces. General Gist, gallant gentleman and sol¬ 
dier, was killed in the advance; Colonel Capers was dan¬ 
gerously, and his lieutenant-colonel, J. S. Jones, mortally 
wounded. The loss of officers and men in Gist’s brigade 
was very great. On the march to Nashville it was com¬ 
manded by Captain Gillis, Forty-sixth Georgia. Its 
senior officer, Colonel Capers, recovered and received 
a well-earned promotion. At the close of hostilities 
between the States, he dedicated himself to the church, 
and in that sacred calling has won eminence and the love 
of his people. 

Cheatham’s division was commanded after the battle 
by the gallant Col. C. C. Hurt, Ninth Tennessee, Gen. 
John C. Brown being dangerously wounded. Brig.-Gen. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 159 

John C. Carter was mortally wounded, Gist and Strahl were 
killed, Gordon was captured inside the enemy’s works. 
Majs. John Ingram and Thomas F. Henry and Capt. 
M. B. Pilcher of the division staff were severely wounded; 
Maj. Joseph Vaulx, always gallant and reliable, alone 
escaped unhurt. No division of the army ever sustained 
such a loss in general officers. 

O. F. Strahl was born on the banks of the Muskingum, 
came to Tennessee in his youth, and was as thoroughly 
identified with the State as any one of her sons. He 
gave to the Fourth Tennessee its drill and discipline, and 
made it a noted regiment; and, succeeding A. P. Stewart 
in command of his brigade, added splendor to the repu¬ 
tation won for it by that accomplished soldier. When 
General Strahl entered upon the Tennessee campaign he 
was just recovering from a dangerous wound received at 
the battle of Atlanta on the 22d of July. He was a very 
accomplished tactician, and always handled his regiment 
and brigade with ease and skill. He was most fortunate 
in his subordinates, with officers like Col. Andrew J. 
Keller; Col. A. D. Gwynne, distinguished at Mill Creek 
Gap, and called by his comrades the “Knight of 
Gwynne;’’ Lieut.-Col. Luke W. Finlay, severely 
wounded at Shiloh, Perryville and New Hope church, 
and Maj. Henry Hampton, dangerously wounded at 
Perry ville. The officers of his staff, Captain Johnston, 
adjutant-general, Lieut. John H. Marsh, inspector- 
general, soldiers of experience and gallantry, were both 
killed. ' 

John C. Carter was a native of Georgia, a citizen of 
Tennessee, where he was educated, entered the service 
as a lieutenant in the Thirty-eighth Tennessee, won hon¬ 
orable mention from his colonel at Shiloh, and further 
promotion and honor until he was made a brigadier-gen¬ 
eral. He early attracted the attention of his division 
general, upon whose recommendation his final advance¬ 
ment was made upon his merit. He had a wonderful 


160 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


gentleness of manner, coupled with a dauntless courage. 
Every field officer of his brigade except Colonel Hurt was 
killed, wounded or captured on the enemy’s works. In 
one regiment, the gallant Sixth, Orderly-Sergt. W. H. 
Bruner remained the ranking officer. 

Gen. William A. Quarles, of Tennessee, was danger¬ 
ously wounded and captured. His division general, 
Walthall, said of him: “Brigadier-General Quarles was 
severely wounded at the head of his brigade within a 
short distance of the enemy’s inner line, and all his staff 
officers on duty [W. B. Munford and Capt. S. A. 
Conley] were killed.” Col. Isaac N. Holme, Forty- 
second Tennessee, and Capt. R. T. Johnson, Forty-ninth, 
were severely wounded; Lieut.-Col. T. M. Atkins, Forty- 
ninth, Maj. S. C. Cooper, Forty-sixth, and Capt. James 
J. Rittenburg, Fifty-third, were wounded and captured, 
and Maj. J. E. McDonald, Fifty-fifth, and Capt. R. T. 
Coulter, were killed, leaving a captain in command of 
the brigade. 

Brig.-Gen. John Adams, of Tennessee, was killed after 
leading his command up to the enemy’s main line of 
works. Gen. Jacob D. Cox says of him: “In one of the 
lulls between these attacks, when the smoke was so thick 
that one could see a very little way in front, the officers 
of the line discovered a mounted officer in front forming 
for another attack or rallying them after a repulse. Shots 
were fired and horse and rider both fell. The horse 
struggled to his feet and dashed for the breastworks, 
leaped upon it and fell dead astride it. The wounded 
officer was Gen. John Adams. He was brought in and 
soon died.” 

General Hood reported the loss of the army of Tennes¬ 
see at 4,500- The loss of Schofield’s army numbered 
2,326 killed, wounded and missing. Of this number, 
1,104 were captured by the Confederates, about 600 of 
them by Brown and Cleburne from the enemy’s line in 
advance of his intrenchments. 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


161 


Gen. J. D. Cox says the Federal loss in killed was 
“trifling everywhere but near the center,” the point 
assailed by Cleburne and Brown. No report with list of 
casualties was ever made, and no data exist for the ascer¬ 
tainment of the actual losses of these two divisions, but 
it must have been 40 per cent in killed, wounded and 
missing. In Quarles’ Tennessee brigade of Stewart’s 
corps, the loss was just as great, and the death rate in 
Stewart’s and Cheatham’s corps was out of the usual 
proportion. It was great enough to make Tennessee a 
land of mourning. 

The attacks of the Confederates were repeated at inter¬ 
vals until dark, and on part of the line until 9 o’clock. 
At midnight the Federal forces were withdrawn and 
marched to Nashville. 

After our dead comrades were buried and the wounded 
of both armies provided for, the army of Tennessee 
moved forward to the front of Nashville, where on the 
2d of December a line of battle was formed and intrench- 
ments provided. Smith’s brigade of Cleburne’s division 
came up, and Ector’s brigade of Stewart’s corps rejoined 
the army, which was now 23,053 strong, opposed to an 
army under Gen. George H. Thomas of more than three 
times that number. 

On the morning of December 2d, Major-General Bate 
was ordered by the commanding general to go “over to 
Murfreesboro’’ with his division, with instructions to 
destroy the railroad, and burn the bridges and block¬ 
houses from that place to Nashville. His three brigades 
and Slocum’s battery did not exceed 1,600 men; Col. 
B. J. Hill with 150 mounted men was to co-operate with 
him. It was discovered that Murfreesboro had not been 
evacuated, as Bate was led to believe from the character 
of his orders, and on the morning of the 4th he notified 
General Hood that the place was strongly fortified and 
held by from 8,000 to 10,000 troops, commanded by 
Major-General Rousseau. Bate had a sharp combat that 

Term 11 


162 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


evening in which the enemy was punished and driven 
with loss from the field of attack. Bate sustaining a loss 
of 15 killed and 59 wounded. On the morning of the 5th 
he captured and burned three blockhouses and the 
bridges they guarded, and at this time Major-General 
Forrest arrived with two divisions of cavalry and Sear’s 
and Palmer’s brigades of infantry, assumed command 
and initiated offensive operations under Hood’s orders 
against Murfreesboro. 

General Forrest reported that on the morning of the 
6th the enemy declined his offer of battle, but on the next 
morning moved out on the Salem turnpike in force and 
drove in his pickets, when the infantry, except Smith’s 
(Tennessee) brigade, made a shameful retreat with the 
loss of two pieces of artillery. Failing with Bate's 
assistance to rally the troops, he called for Armstrong’s 
and Ross’ brigades of Jackson’s division, who charged 
the enemy and checked his advance. On the 9th, Smith’s 
brigade of Cleburne’s division, under Colonel Olmstead, 
relieved Bate, who joined his proper command. On the 
13th, Brig.-Gen. W. H. Jackson captured a train of 17 
cars and the Sixty-first Illinois regiment of infantry, with 
60,000 rations intended for the garrison at Murfreesboro. 

Forrest was pushing his investment of Murfreesboro 
with great vigor when he was advised by Hood of the 
disaster at Nashville. He then withdrew at once and 
rejoined the army at Columbia. On the 18th he wrote, 
“Most of the infantry under my command were bare¬ 
footed and in a disabled condition. My march over 
almost impassable roads was therefore unavoidably slow. ’ ’ 

The army of Tennessee rested in position before Nash¬ 
ville from the 2d to the 13th of December. Two bri¬ 
gades left in the rear joined their commands, but three 
were in front of Murfreesboro with Forrest and did not 
participate in the battle of the 16th. From Ridley’s Hill 
on the Nolensville pike, the center of Cheatham’s corps, 
there was an unobstructed view of Federal movements 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


163 


and preparations for battle. The arrival of troops, the 
concentration of Wilson’s cavalry, was all in plain view. 
The weather was very severe and the suffering of the 
men was great. There was no supply of shoes, and the 
men covered their bare feet with raw hide taken from 
animals freshly slaughtered. Hundreds of Tennesseeans 
passed their own doors on the march without halting, and 
many were in sight of their homes when the guns 
opened. 

On December 15th the enemy, having completed his 
preparation, moved out to attack the left held by Stewart 
and the right held by Cheatham. The enemy, says Gen¬ 
eral Stewart, appeared in force along his entire line with 
the purpose of turning the left flank of the army. The 
commanding general dispatched Manigault’s and Deas’ 
brigades of Johnson’s division, Lee’s corps, to Stewart’s 
assistance, and they were placed in line parallel to the 
Hillsboro pike, opposite redoubt No. 4. Under attack 
the two brigades made but a feeble resistance, and the 
enemy captured redoubts No. 4 and No. 5, with all artil¬ 
lery in them, and killed and wounded many of our men. 
A battery from Loring’s division was brought over and 
placed in position and the same brigades brought up to 
its support, but they again fled, causing the capture of 
the battery, after which the enemy pressed forward and 
gained the rear of Walthall and Loring. Walthall, after 
a gallant resistance, retired his line, when the entire 
corps formed between the Granny White and Franklin 
turnpikes, night closing the conflict. 

The attack on Cheatham was made by Major-General 
Steedman with the Twelfth, Thirteenth and One Hun¬ 
dredth regiments of colored troops, under command of 
Col. Charles R. Thompson of the Twelfth colored; the 
Fourteenth, Seventeenth (commanded by Col. William. 
R. Shatter), Forty-fourth and a detachment of the 
Eighteenth colored under Col. T. J. Morgan of the Four¬ 
teenth colored; the Sixty-eighth Indiana, Eighteenth 


164 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Ohio, and the Second battalion, under command of 
Lieut.-Col. C. H. Grosvenor, Eighteenth Ohio, and 
the Twentieth Indiana and Eighteenth Ohio batteries. 
The assault was received by Cheatham in the fore¬ 
noon of the 15th, Granbury’s brigade having been 
placed by the corps commander in a lunette with a sec¬ 
tion of Turner’s battery. Lieutenant-Colonel Grosvenor 
with his brigade assaulted the salient angle of this field 
work, and claimed in his official report that one of his 
captains with 100 men gained the interior of the work, 
but the men of Granbury’s brigade, 300 strong, reserved 
their fire under orders until the assaulting column was in 
short range. The volley was terrific, and to escape it 
part of Grosvenor’s force doubtless undertook to seek 
the cover of the ditch in front of the field work and were 
there killed. No attempt was made to gain the interior 
of the work; it would have been an impossible undertak¬ 
ing. It was held and defended by a body of trained vet¬ 
erans, who possessed a capacity for successful resistance 
against five-fold the nt&nber reported to have effected 
the entrance. If it had been possible there would have 
been no survivors, and there were no Federals killed 
inside the work. Cheatham’s entire line was well 
intrenched and no impression was made upon it, and no 
losses sustained by its defenders except from sharp¬ 
shooters. 

Colonel Morgan, commanding the two colored brigades, 
reported that his line “advanced very close to the enemy’s 
line. ’ ’ His troops did come forward as if on dress parade. 
Our men had never before encountered them on the bat¬ 
tlefield, and were amazed at their soldierly bearing. 
There was no cover to conceal the advance, and it was 
difficult to restrain our men from mounting the works to 
witness the novel and imposing spectacle. Morgan’s 
line was permitted to advance “very close,’’ but when 
a volley was delivered it was a race between the poor, 
deluded blacks and their officers for a place of safety. 



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CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY . 


165 


The description by Lieutenant-Colonel Grosvenor of the 
conduct of his own command answers for that of the 
whole attacking column. He said: “The troops were 
mostly new conscripts, convalescents, and bounty-jump¬ 
ers, and on this occasion behaved in the most cowardly 
and disgraceful manner. The enemy, seeing the men 
hesitating and wavering, fired a heavy volley and stam¬ 
peded the whole line, and nearly all the men fled from 
the field. ’ ’ The hillside in our front was covered with 
the Federal dead and wounded. No effort was made to 
succor the wounded after this “sham battle” was deter¬ 
mined. Orders were received from General Hood to 
move Cheatham’s corps to the left of our army, and 
after a volley was delivered at Morgan’s command, the 
movement was begun, and very soon completed. In 
spite of the abandonment of the entire line, Captain 
Osborne, of the Twentieth Indiana battery, who had 
“passed to the rear” with Morgan’s, Thompson’s and 
Grosvenor’s brigades, reports officially that he maintained 
“a continual fire until night. ” Before that hour Cheat¬ 
ham’s corps had marched two or three miles and gone 
into position to the left of Stewart’s corps. That the 
wounded were not cared for was no fault of the Confed¬ 
erates, as they retired from the hill immediately after the 
stampede. The Federal loss was 825 killed, wounded 
and missing, and of this number 120 were killed. 

On the morning of the 16th, Thomas made a general 
attack on the Confederate line of battle, but was repulsed 
at all points. About noon an attempt was made to turn 
Hood’s left, held by Govan’s brigade of Cleburne’s divi¬ 
sion; the attack being made by Wilson’s dismounted cav¬ 
alry. It was vigorously prosecuted and the position car¬ 
ried, but not until General Govan, and Colonel Green, 
the officer next in rank, were severely wounded. So 
soon as the result was ascertained, Col. Hume R. Feild, 
First Tennessee, commanding Carter’s brigade, was dis¬ 
patched to the left with orders to retake the position at 


166 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


any cost. It could be said of him: “Thou bearest the 
highest name for valiant acts.” In four years of war he 
had never known failure. It was a critical period, the 
enemy’s shots were taking us in reverse, and betore many 
minutes a lodgment would be made in our rear; but 
Feild’s advance was equal to the emergency, and in a 
few minutes the ground was recovered and the enemy 
forced to retire. Colonel Feild immediately reported 
the result to the corps commander through his gallant 
aide-de-camp, Charles H. Thompson, with the informa¬ 
tion that he had deployed his brigade as a skirmish line 
to cover the enemy’s front, and if the assault was 
repeated he could not maintain himself against a line of 
battle, and asked for reinforcements. General Cheatham 
replied: “The colonel must not expect reinforcements; 
there are no reserves. I sent him to the left because I 
can trust him to hold any position. ’ ’ But in a short time 
Gist’s brigade, commanded by Col. John H. Anderson, 
Eighth Tennessee, was sent to his assistance. In the 
afternoon there was a concentration of artillery in 
Cheatham’s front, with a furious cannonade upon the 
hill occupied by Bate’s division. 

Col. A. J. Kellar, Fourth Tennessee, commanding 
Strahl’s brigade, held the right of Cheatham’s division, 
commanded by Brig.-Gen. M. P. Lowrey. In a report 
made to General Hood on the 18th, he states that the hill 
occupied by Bate’s division “was given up to the enemy 
without a struggle. ” Colonel Kellar was on Bate’s 
immediate left. General Hood, referring to the disaster, 
said: “A portion of our line to the left of the center sud¬ 
denly gave way, causing in a few minutes our line to 
give way at all points, our troops retreating rapidly down 
the Franklin pike.” This assault was made by the 
troops commanded by Generals Schofield and A. J. Smith. 
Referring to it, Major-General Thomas reported, “Our 
loss was remarkably small, scarcely mentionable. ” 

When the line gave way, Cheatham dispatched a staff 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


167 


officer to the commanding general, to report the condi¬ 
tion of the left and to ask that some body of troops 
should be halted east of the Granny White pike to cover 
the withdrawal of his left. There was no panic there, 
but he decided not to attempt to bring out the organiza¬ 
tions, and directed the men to retire without order and 
cross the hills to the Franklin road. Lowrey’s and Gran- 
bury’s brigades of Cheatham’s division, under Brig.-Gen. 
J. A. Smith, who had been sent in the forenoon to sup¬ 
port the center, were ordered back to the left just as the 
disaster occurred, halted and put into position, and they 
checked the advance of the enemy long enough to enable 
the troops on the extreme left to retire in safety. Brig. - 
Gens. Henry R. Jackson and Thomas B. Smith, Bate’s 
division, were not affected by the panic and were cap¬ 
tured. Col. M. Mageveny, Jr., One Hundred and Fifty- 
fourth Tennessee, unable to climb the hills when his regi¬ 
ment was ordered to retire, was captured, and the gallant 
Col. W. W. Shy, Twentieth Tennessee, was killed. 

The casualties were inconsiderable in numbers. There 
was no serious resistance to the Federal advance; it was 
a battle without an engagement or a contest; and the 
wonder is that Thomas, with a large and well-appointed 
army, more than treble the strength of Hood, did not 
press his right, seize the Franklin turnpike and capture 
the entire army. Hood’s army was in a wretched state, 
the clothing of the men was scant, and the per cent of 
the barefooted was distressing. On the retreat out of 
Tennessee the weather was very severe, rain, sleet and 
snow falling upon the army after the second day’s 
march; but the spirit of endurance seemed to rise as 
difficulties multiplied. 

Maj.-Gen. George H. Thomas in his official report says 
of Hood’s army: “With the exception of his rear guard, his 
army had become a disheartened and disorganized rab¬ 
ble of half-armed and barefooted men, who sought every 
opportunity to fall out by the wayside and desert their 


168 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


cause to put an end to their suffering. The rear guard, 
however, was undaunted and firm, and did its work 
bravely to the last. ’ ’ This report was prepared more 
than a month after the battle, and assumed to be histor¬ 
ically correct. 

Hood’s field return, made on the 10th of December, 
1864, shows his effective strength at 23,053, and General 
Thomas states that “during the two days’ operations 
there were 4,462 prisoners captured,’’ leaving Hood in 
retreat with an army 18,591 strong. The first return of 
strength after the campaign was made at Tupelo, 
Miss., on the 20th of January, 1865, showed an effective 
total of 16,913, after every soldier from west Tennessee 
had been furloughed at Corinth, Miss., for thirty days. 
They represented the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth, 
Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, Twelfth, Thirteenth, 
Fifteenth, Twenty-first, Twenty-second, Thirty-first, 
Thirty-third, Thirty-eighth, Forty-sixth, Forty-seventh, 
Fifty-first, Fifty-second, Fifty-fifth Tennessee regiments, 
which would not average more than 100 men to the regi¬ 
ment ; adding these to the last report, the army would 
have shown an effective total of 18,813. It was evident 
that while we had large numbers of poorly-clad and bare¬ 
footed men, the accusation that they “sought every 
opportunity to fall out by the wayside and desert their 
cause” was without foundation. 

Immediately after the break in our line the troops 
sought their own organizations, reformed under their 
officers, and marched out of the State in perfect order. 
The formation was made just south of the hills in the 
rear of our left, a few hundred j-ards from the abandoned 
line of battle, where, on account of the timid policy 
of the Federal commander, and his proverbial want of 
enterprise, our army was not molested. The men, with 
an occasional exception, had arms in their hands. At 
Franklin there were several thousand stand of arms, a 
very large proportion captured from the enemy; and 




CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 169 

after the loss of fifty pieces of artillery, the army retired 
with fifty-nine field pieces and an ample supply of ammu¬ 
nition. The successful resistance to the assault of the 
Federal cavalry near Franklin by the rear guard of Lee’s 
corps, repeated at Spring Hill the next day by the rear 
guard of Cheatham’s corps, does not sustain the Federal 
general’s report that our army was a “disorganized 
rabble. ’’ 

While disasters had multiplied and the suffering was 
great, the spirit of the men was unbroken. It was well 
illustrated by Colonel Kellar, Fourth Tennessee, who in 
his report to Hood said: “For the first time in this war 
we lost our cannon. Give us the first chance and we 
will retake them.’’ In the loss of artillery at Nashville, 
that of three 12-pounder Napoleon guns by Turner’s 
Mississippi battery caused infinite regret in Cheatham’s 
division. With other pieces they had been captured at 
Perryville, and had been served in all the subsequent 
battles of the Southwest with the greatest distinction by 
the company of noble Mississippians who manned them. 

General Hood had been over-confident and too enthusi¬ 
astic. When he retreated from Nashville his only hope 
was to save the remnant of his army, and he looked 
to the indomitable Forrest to accomplish this result. 
The cavalry had suffered from constant exposure to 
the trying winter weather and was not in condition 
unaided to check the advance of the enemy long enough 
to secure Hood’s retreat, therefore it was decided to 
detach Major-General Walthall with instructions to 
organize a rear guard 3,000 strong, and report to Major- 
General Forrest. Walthall selected the brigades of 
Reynolds, Ector and Quarles, of his own division; 
Featherston’s, of Loring’s division; Carter’s (formerly 
Maney’s), of Cheatham’s division, commanded by 
Col. H. R. Feild; Strahl’s, of Cheatham’s division, com¬ 
manded by Col. C. H. Heiskell, and Smith’s, of Cleburne’s 
division. Instead of 3,000 men, the effective total was 


170 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


1,601, but it was a splendid command, led with consum¬ 
mate skill and courage. “Walthall was the youngest 
division general in the army of Tennessee, and when he 
drew his sword in command over the rear guard to cover 
its retreat, there was not a soldier in it, from the com¬ 
manding general down, who did not believe he would do 
it or perish in the effort.” General Forrest said of him: 
“He exhibited the highest soldierly qualities; many of 
his men were without shoes, but they bore their suffer¬ 
ings without murmur, and were ever ready to meet the 
enemy. ” 

General Walthall said of his command, “For several 
days the ground was covered with snow, and numbers of 
the men made the march without shoes, some had no 
blankets, and all were poorly clad for the season;” but 
despite these difficulties and privations there was no 
complaint. Every day there was a skirmish or a combat, 
in which the cavalry and artillery of Forrest participated 
with the infantry of Walthall. The danger was a com¬ 
mon one, and the two arms of the service were alike 
conspicuous for courage and endurance. The Federal 
advance was beaten and punished day by day so thor¬ 
oughly that General Thomas was forced to admit that 
“the rear guard was undaunted and firm, and did its work 
bravely to the last. ’ ’ The rear guard recrossed the Ten¬ 
nessee on the 27th of December, Ector’s brigade under 
Col. D. Coleman, Thirty-ninth North Carolina, in the rear. 

General Forrest, in his report of the campaign, said that 
from the 21st of November to the 27th of December his 
command was engaged every day with the enemy. “I 
brought out three pieces of artillery (taken from the 
enemy), more than I started with. My command cap¬ 
tured and destroyed 16 blockhouses and stockades, 20 
bridges, 4 locomotives, 100 cars, 10 miles of railroad, and 
have turned over to the provost-marshal 1,600 prisoners, 
besides the capture of several hundred horses, mules and 
cattle.” In an address to his troops issued by Forrest 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


171 


on his return to Corinth, Miss., he said: “During the 
past year (1864) you have fought 50 battles, killed and 
captured 16,000 of the enemy, captured 2,000 mules and 
horses, 67 pieces of artillery, 4 gunboats, 14 transports, 
20 barges, 300 wagons, 50 ambulances, 10,000 stand of 
small-arms, 40 blockhouses, destroyed 36 railroad 
bridges, 200 miles of railroad, 6 engines, 100 cars, and 
$15,000,000 worth of (Federal) property. Your strength 
never exceeded 5,000, 2,000 of whom have been killed or 
wounded; in prisoners you have lost about 200. ” 

This summary of his operations doubtless stimulated 
General Sherman to advise the assassination of Forrest 
and to commit other atrocities. An order, or letter of 
instructions, dated Savannah, Ga., January 21, 1865, 
addressed to Gen. George H. Thomas (see Vol. XLV, 
War Records, Part 2, page 621), giving “such instruc¬ 
tions as fall within my province as commander of the divi¬ 
sion, “ General Sherman advised him to march on Colum¬ 
bus, Miss., Tuscaloosa and Selma, “destroying farms, 
gathering horses, mules (wagons to be burned), and 
doing all possible damage, burning Selma and Montgom¬ 
ery, Ala., and all iron foundries, mills and factories,” 
and adds: “I would like to have Forrest hunted down 
and killed, but doubt if we can do that yet.” If the 
Spanish Captain-General Weyler, of Cuba, had issued 
and published this letter of instructions to a subordinate 
officer, the press, the pulpit, the halls of Congress of 
the United States would have rung with fierce denuncia¬ 
tion of the savage spirit of its author, and public opinion 
would outlaw his memory. 

The remnant of the army of Tennessee retired from 
Corinth to Tupelo, Miss., on the 23d of January, 1865. 
General Hood was relieved and Lieut.-Gen. Richard 
Taylor assigned to command. 

After a few days of needed rest and preparation, the 
troops of Lee’s, Stewart’s and Cheatham’s corps, in the 
order named, were moved by rail to South Carolina. 


172 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


During the month (January) the Congress adopted this 
resolution: “That if the President will appoint Gen. 
J. E. Johnston to the command of the army of Tennes¬ 
see it will, in the opinion of the Congress of the Confed¬ 
erate States, be hailed with joy by the army and will 
receive the approval of the country.” President Davis 
did not at once make the appointment himself, but a 
month later, on the 22d of February, Gen. R. E. Lee, 
having been made general-in-chief, called General 
Johnston to the command of the army of Tennessee and 
of all troops in the department of Georgia, South 
Carolina and Florida, with instructions to concentrate 
the troops “and drive back Sherman,” but it was too 
late. The change imparted a sense of relief, gave hope 
to the country, and revived the spirit of the troops; but 
Atlanta, Franklin, Nashville and the retreat from Ten¬ 
nessee with its untold horrors, had forced the conviction 
upon the mind of the soldiers that success was not attain¬ 
able. Nevertheless, to the honor and glory of the South, 
the troops entered upon the final campaign with loyalty 
and unmatched constancy. Cheatham, with the mass of 
the Tennesseeans, except the West Tennesseeans on fur¬ 
lough, arrived at Augusta, Ga., on the 9th of February, 
and halted to meet a threatened advance of the enemy at 
that place. On the 14th, orders were received to move to 
Columbia, S. C., and after a march of forty miles in two 
days the command was halted at Newberry. On the 21st, 
a march of twenty-one miles was made to the Ennoree 
river, where orders were received from General Beaure¬ 
gard to return to Newberry. In a day or two the com¬ 
mand was ordered to Chester, S. C., and halted there for 
several days. After another detention at Charlotte, 
N. C., and another provoking delay at Salisbury, occa¬ 
sioned by a change of gauge of the railroad tracks and 
the want of cars, orders were received to unite with Gen¬ 
eral Johnston. At noon of the 21st the troops joined 
him and went into position on the field of Bentonville. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


173 


Lieut.-Gen. A. P. Stewart commanded the troops of 
the army of Tennessee, numbering - 8,731 effective men, 
and General Johnston treated Stewart’s command as one 
corps. There were present, of Cheatham’s corps, detach¬ 
ments from Cleburne’s and Bate’s divisions (only en¬ 
gaged in the battle of the 19th), and 406 effective men 
under the command of Major-General Bate. Stewart’s 
corps had 890 effective men, and 2,660 of Lee’s corps 
were present; with this force and the North Carolina 
troops under Gen. Braxton Bragg, and the forces under 
Lieutenant-General Hardee, numbering 15,000 men of 
all arms, General Johnston fought the battle of Benton- 
ville. Cheatham’s arrival on the 21st increased the 
strength of the corps to 2,602, and Lieutenant-General 
Lee joined General Johnston in a few days with about 3,000 
troops, composed of detachments from his own, Stewart’s 
and Cheatham’s corps, united in one body at Augusta, Ga. 

The attack was begun upon our left (Hoke’s division) 
by General Slocum with the Twentieth army corps. Gen¬ 
eral Johnston reported that the attack continued about 
thirty minutes and was repulsed with heavy loss to the 
enemy. In a few minutes ‘ ‘ another attack was made upon 
Stewart’s corps, commanded by Major-General Loring, by 
which the enemy was quickly driven back.” Hardee 
was in position at 3 o’clock and made a vigorous attack 
on the right, well and gallantly (said the commanding 
general) seconded by Stewart, Hill, Loring and the 
officers under them. Slocum was badly beaten but was 
heavily reinforced and assumed the offensive, with 
little effect. After burying the dead and removing our 
own and the Federal wounded, the Confederates resumed 
their first position. On the 20th, the enemy had three of 
his four corps present well intrenched, but made no gen¬ 
eral attack. During the day General Bragg’s line was 
several times attacked and the enemy repulsed and 
severely punished. On the 21st, heavy skirmishing was 
renewed on the whole front of our line, and at 4 o’clock 


174 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Mower’s division of the Seventeenth corps penetrated the 
cavalry line on our extreme left and moved upon Benton- 
ville. General Sherman, reporting the incident to Gen¬ 
eral Grant, said: “Yesterday we pushed him (Johnston) 
hard and came very near crushing him. ’ ’ But General 
Hardee met the movement with Cumming’s Georgia bri¬ 
gade under Colonel Henderson, while the cavalry, directed 
by Generals Hampton and Wheeler, charged his left flank, 
with Hogan’s Alabama brigade under General Allen; 
while the Eighth Texas and the Fourth Tennessee, the 
gallant Col. Baxter Smith commanding the brigade, bore 
down upon the enemy’s left and front. The enemy was 
routed and driven back in disorder upon his reserves, and 
our only line of retreat over Mill creek was made secure. 

This action of the 21st was one of the most gallant 
of the war, the last one in which the troops of the army 
of Tennessee participated. It was an exhibition of the 
dash and courage and the best qualities of the Southern 
soldier, and will forever be an example of what brave 
men can accomplish. The future was very dark to 
them, hope of success and independence had faded, the 
distant home had been abandoned to the spoiler, they 
had endured four years of hardship, privation and all the 
perils of battle, but at the last moment every sense was 
subordinated to that of duty. Sherman had on the field, 
when Mower attempted to seize Johnston’s line of retreat, 
just three times the force of the Confederates, with 
Schofield’s army in supporting distance, the combined 
force exceeding 75,000 men. In the early morning of 
the 2 2d, General Johnston retired across Mill creek and 
formed line again, but the enemy made no effort to 
advance. In the three days’ fighting, Johnston’s army 
lost 223 killed, 1,467 wounded, 653 missing; and captured 
903 prisoners, with their arms, and 3 pieces of artil¬ 
lery. Sherman must have lost 400 in killed and wounded, 
as the Confederates fought behind intrenchments. In a 
dispatch to General Grant, General Sherman states his 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


175 


entire losses in the Carolina campaign at 2,500; but his 
own official return of casualties fixes his loss at Kinston 
at 1,337; at Averasboro, 682; at Bentonville, 1,527; total, 
3,546. The Federal authorities give the number of miss¬ 
ing at Bentonville only 214; General Johnston reports 
the number of prisoners captured 903. Counted among 
the Confederate missing were several detachments of 
men who went through the Federal line in the charge of 
the 19th. Referring to this, Brig.-Gen. J. B. Palmer of Ten¬ 
nessee reported that Col. Anderson Searcy and Lieuten¬ 
ant-Colonel Hall of the Forty-fifth Tennessee, and Major 
Joyner of the Eighteenth, “with fifty of my men and small 
detachments from other commands of our army, after 
having remained in rear of Sherman's army for nine 
days, made their way around the enemy’s left flank and 
rejoined the brigade on the 28th of March, with four 
stand of colors belonging to the Tennessee regiments. 
This action required great adroitness, patient courage 
and endurance, and justly entitles them to high distinc¬ 
tion as soldiers. ’ ’ The incident was referred to by Gen. 
D. H. Hill, commanding Lee’s corps, and Palmer and 
his brigade were warmly commended both by him and 
General Stevenson, the division commander. 

In the operations culminating in the battle of Benton¬ 
ville, Wheeler’s cavalry bore a conspicuous part. Brig.- 
Gen. W. Y. C. Humes of Tennessee commanded two 
brigades of cavalry. The Fourth Tennessee, Col. Will¬ 
iam S. McLemore, the Thirteenth and Shaw’s Tennes¬ 
see battalion, Capt. R. V. Wright, constituted the bri¬ 
gade commanded by Gen. George G. Dibrell of Tennes¬ 
see, one of the noblest of men, and the equal in every 
soldierly quality of any son of his State. Always reli¬ 
able, trusted in council and on the field, he won the con¬ 
fidence of all under whom he served. He survived the 
war and was rewarded by his countrymen with distin¬ 
guished and well-earned honors. 

The First Tennessee, Lieut.-Col. James H. Lewis; the 


176 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Second, Lieut.-Col. John H. Kuhn; the Fifth, Col. George 
W. McKenzie, and the Ninth battalion, Maj. James H. 
Akin, constituted the brigade commanded by the gallant 
Col. Henry M. Ashby. The Fourth and Eighth were 
commanded by Col. Baxter Smith, and brigaded with the 
Eighth Texas. Among our losses, Major-General Bate 
reported the fall of Maj. W. H. Wilkinson, and refers to 
him as “the young, gallant and lamented commander of 
Tyler’s brigade. ” He fell leading his brigade in a mem¬ 
orable and final charge upon the enemy’s line. In Pal¬ 
mer’s brigade, Col. R. M. Saffell and Lieut.-Col. A. F. 
Boggess, Twenty-sixth regiment, were killed. Colonel 
Saffell volunteered with Ashby’s cavalry when the 
enemy attempted to turn our left, on the 21st, and was 
killed, gallantly leading a successful charge. Lieuten¬ 
ant-Colonel Boggess, said General Palmer, “fell in the 
gallant discharge of his duties, a noble specimen of the 
man, officer and soldier.’’ 

Johnston’s army changed position on the 24th to a point 
four miles north of Smithfield, and there halted until the 
10th of April. Under orders from army headquarters, 
the 8th and 9th were spent in the reorganization of an 
army in which regiments were now reduced to the 
strength of companies, and many companies were without 
representatives. A pathetic incident occurred when the 
roll of Company G, of the One Hundred and Fifty- 
fourth Tennessee, was called. It had one representative 
present, and he disabled from wounds received in battle. 
He walked out of line, and addressing General Cheatham, 
said: “General, there was near a hundred of us when we 
mustered into the service in April, 1861, under our brave 
Capt. Marsh Patrick. We have been with you from Bel¬ 
mont down, we have never had a desertion, and only two 
or three captured, and those on picket line. We have 
had over 50 per cent killed in battle, many have died 
from disease, and some have lost a leg or an arm or are 
otherwise permanently disabled, but I am here to follow 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


177 


you to the end. ’ ’ Of all the noble bands of Tennesseeans 
who once swelled the ranks of the army, there was just 
a sufficient number remaining to organize four regiments. 
The First was composed of the First, Sixth, Eighth, 
Ninth, Sixteenth, Twenty-seventh, Twenty-eighth and 
Thirty-fourth (consolidated), Col. Hume R. Feild, Lieut. - 
Col. Oliver A. Bradshaw, Maj. W. D. Kelly. The 
Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Twenty-ninth, Forty- 
seventh, Fiftieth, Fifty-first and One Hundred and Fifty- 
fourth (consolidated), constituted the Second, Col. Horace 
Rice, Lieut. -Col. George W. Pease. The Fourth, Fifth, 
Nineteenth, Twenty-fourth, Thirty-first, Thirty-third, 
Thirty-fifth, Thirty-eighth and Forty-first (consolidated), 
constituted the Third Tennessee, Col. James D. Tillman. 
The Second, Third, Tenth, Fifteenth, Eighteenth, Twen¬ 
tieth, Twenty-sixth, Thirtieth, Thirty-second, Thirty- 
seventh and Forty-fifth, and Twenty-third battalion, con¬ 
stituted the Fourth Tennessee, Col. Anderson Searcy. 
The four regiments constituted one brigade, and Brig.- 
Gen. Joseph B. Palmer was assigned to its command. This, 
with Gist’s South Carolina and Georgia brigade, Col. Will¬ 
iam G. Foster commanding, constituted a division, com¬ 
manded by Maj.-Gen. B. F. Cheatham. Maj.-Gen. John 
C. Brown was placed in command of Cleburne’s division. 
Lieutenant-General Stewart resumed command of his 
army corps, and no other general officer from Tennessee 
was assigned to duty. The army continued the march 
from the ioth, through Raleigh, crossed the Haw and Ala¬ 
mance rivers, on the 15th making a march of 15 miles; 
marched 12 miles on the 16th on the New Salem road 
and bivouacked. Richmond had been evacuated, the 
army of Northern Virginia under General Lee had sur¬ 
rendered, and on the 17th Johnston’s army was con¬ 
fronted by overwhelming numbers. The troops were 
excited and full of suspense, but never more alert or 
obedient to orders. On the 19th it was known that a 
truce had been agreed upon by the commanding generals 

Term 12 


178 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


of the two armies, and terms of peace negotiated. The 
authorities at Washington refused to ratify the terms of 
settlement. On the 26th the army marched 10 miles on 
the Center and Thomasville road, and on the following 
day it was officially announced that terms had been 
agreed upon by which the troops under General Johnston 
would be surrendered. 

This announcement brought sorrow, but no surprise. 
The humblest man in the ranks felt that it was inevitable. 
There had existed a bare hope that the union of the 
armies of Lee and Johnston might be productive of good 
for the country, but this was dispelled by the surrender 
of Lee. Tennesseeans accepted the situation in a manner 
befitting a people who had made so many sacrifices and 
endured so many wrongs without complaint, and whose 
heroic sons had won glory and honor on every battlefield 
of the war. 

Thirty-nine thousand and twelve officers and men of 
Johnston’s army were paroled at Greensboro, N. C., and 
other points, in accordance with the military convention 
of April 26, 1865, and among them were 2,000 Tennes¬ 
seeans, all in Cheatham’s division. The paroled soldiers, 
maintaining their organizations, retired to Salisbury, 
where rations were distributed and $1.25 in coin was 
paid to officers and men. This fund constituted the 
military chest of the army and had just come under the 
control of General Johnston, under orders from President 
Davis. It was the first payment in coin made to the 
troops, and the first of any description for many months. 
A touching farewell to the troops was published by Gen¬ 
eral Johnston, and the Tennessee brigade marched to 
Greeneville, Tenn., under command of Gen. J. B. 
Palmer, and took the cars for their homes. 


CHAPTER XI. 


TENNESSEEANS IN VIRGINIA—RECORDS OF ARCHER’S 

AND JOHNSON’S BRIGADES. 

W HEN Brig.-Gen. W. W. Loring took command of 
the “Northwestern army,” then distributed at 
various points in West Virginia, in July, 1861, 
he was joined at Huntersville by Brig.-Gen. Daniel S. 
Donelson’s Tennessee brigade, composed of the Eighth 
and Sixteenth regiments under Cols. Alfred Fulton 
and John H. Savage, and by Brig.-Gen. Samuel R. 
Anderson’s Tennessee brigade, composed of the First, 
Col. George Maney; the Seventh, Col. Robert Hatton, 
and the Fourteenth, Col. W. A. Forbes. Early in 
August, Gen. R. E. Lee assumed command of the forces 
in West Virginia, and Brig.-Gen. W. S. Rosecrans became 
his opponent in command of the Federal forces. In 
preparing the well-laid scheme to destroy the Federal 
forces at Cheat Mountain pass, General Lee moved 
Donelson’s and Anderson’s brigades to the right and 
left of the Federal position by circuitous mountain paths, 
which enabled them to penetrate the rear of the enemy. 
General Lee said: “With great effort the troops intended 
for the surprise had reached their destination, having 
traversed 20 miles of steep, rugged mountain paths, 
and the last day through a terrible storm which lasted 
all night, and in which they had to stand drenched to 
the skin in the cold rain. When morning broke I could 
see the enemy’s tents on Valley river at the point on the 
Huttonsville road just below me. It was a tempting 
sight. We waited for the attack (by Rust) on Cheat 
mountain, which was to be the signal, till 10 a. m. But 
the signal did not come. All chance for surprise was- 


179 


180 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


gone, the opportunity was lost and our plan discovered.” 

During these operations Col. John H. Savage, of the 
Sixteenth Tennessee, with a guide, captured an entire 
company of Federal infantry with their arms and accouter¬ 
ments. The Savannah, Ga., Republican published an 
account of Colonel Savage’s bold action in a communica¬ 
tion dated September 21, 1861: 

A Bold Capture.—After marching about three miles 
from Tygart river, Colonel Savage of the Sixteenth Ten¬ 
nessee regiment, desiring to make a reconnoissance, 
sallied off from his regiment at least a quarter of a mile, 
and while alone he suddenly and unexpectedly came 
up to where a company of Yankee pickets were stationed. 
Both he and they were considerably surprised, but the 
gallant colonel, changing not a color in his countenance, 
in a bold and defiant manner, standing erect in his stir¬ 
rups, looking in his rear and then quickly facing the 
pickets, exclaimed in a stentorian voice: “You rascals, 
if you don’t ground arms and surrender immediately, my 
men shall surround you and shoot you to pieces in a 
minute.” They did surrender and he made them pris¬ 
oners. The company consisted of three commissioned, 
four non-commissioned officers and sixty privates. 
(Head’s History Sixteenth Tennessee.) 

After the withdrawal of the troops from Sewell moun¬ 
tain, Donelson’s brigade was sent to South Carolina and 
Anderson’s remained with Loring until after Stonewall 
Jackson’s winter campaign. 

On the 1st of January, 1862, Anderson’s brigade moved 
from its encampment near Winchester, Va., in the 
direction of Bath, as part of the expedition commanded 
by Gen. Stonewall Jackson. Approaching Bath on the 
morning of the 4th, General Jackson directed Loring, 
commanding his advance, to move a regiment to the left 
along the mountain which commanded the town. Colonel 
Maney was directed to execute the order, and General 
Jackson reported that “it was undertaken with a 
patriotic enthusiasm which entitles the First Tennessee 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


181 


regiment and its commander to special praise.” Subse¬ 
quently, the Seventh under Colonel Hatton, and a section 
of Shumaker’s battery under Lieutenant Lanier, were 
ordered to co-operate with Maney. The troops had not 
advanced far before the enemy fled, leaving his baggage 
and stores. General Jackson was entirely successful in 
the expedition, though the weather was intensely cold, 
and snow and sleet made the roads almost impassable to 
wagons and teams, and very trying to the men. 

On the 13th of February, Anderson’s brigade was 
ordered to Aquia creek, except the First regiment, which 
was ordered to Tennessee. 

In the organization of the army of Northern Virginia, 
on the peninsula, April 30, 1862, the Tennessee brigade, 
composed of the First, Col. Peter Turney; the Seventh, 
Col. Robert Hatton, and the Fourteenth, Col. W. A. 
Forbes, 2,030 strong, was commanded by Brig.-Gen. 
Samuel R. Anderson, and constituted a part of Whiting’s 
division of the reserve corps under the command of Maj.- 
Gen. G. W. Smith. 

On the 8th of May this brigade participated in the 
affair at Eltham, which, General Smith stated, “forms 
one of the most interesting incidents of the march of my 
command in retiring from Yorktown out of the penin¬ 
sula. ” Having learned that the enemy had anchored off 
West Point and was landing troops, General Smith 
attacked on May 7th with Hood’s and Hampton’s bri¬ 
gades. Two attempts were made to flank the Confed¬ 
erates, but the appearance of Gen. S. R. Anderson with 
the Tennessee brigade (said the division general) on 
our left, made that flank secure. The enemy was driven 
a mile and a half through a dense forest, in which it was 
impossible to see over 30 or 40 yards, until he took 
refuge under the cover of his gunboats, leaving many 
dead and wounded on the field, while the Confederate 
loss was but 8 killed and 32 wounded, a few of the latter 
belonging to the Tennessee brigade. 


182 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


General Whiting said: “I take occasion to make my 
acknowledgments to Brigadier-General Anderson of Ten¬ 
nessee, who, arriving on the field at a critical moment 
to the support of General Hood, and placing two of his 
regiments in the fire of the enemy, courteously waived 
the command, although senior to us all.” 

Soon after this affair General Anderson was relieved at 
his own request, and on the 23d, Col. Robert Hatton of the 
Seventh Tennessee was made brigadier-general. Lieut. - 
Col. John F. Goodner was promoted to the command of 
of the Seventh, Maj. John K. Howard was made lieuten¬ 
ant-colonel, and Capt. John A. Fite was made major. 

At 12130 o’clock on the morning of May 31st, Whiting’s, 
Hood’s and Pettigrew’s brigades were placed near the 
fork of the Nine-mile and New Bridge roads, Hatton’s 
and Hampton’s in reserve near Mrs. Christian’s farm. 
Between 4 and 5 o’clock p. m. Longstreet opened the 
battle of Seven Pines. 

General Whiting was ordered to move his command 
by the Nine-mile road to Longstreet’s assistance, and as 
they came up they were at once hotly engaged. Gen. 
G. W. Smith stated that when Hatton came up, his bri¬ 
gade was formed on the edge of the field near the road. 
It moved across the field with alacrity, and the pre¬ 
cision of its movement in line of battle has been seldom 
equaled, even on the parade ground. Instructions were 
given for putting the brigade in close action. At the 
same time it was already under a deadly fire in a dense, 
entangled wood, struggling through a morass covered 
with logs and thick bushes. The men continued to 
advance without firing a shot until coming up with the 
front line of troops already engaged, when they, too, 
commenced firing, advancing upon the left to within 
15 or 20 yards of the line of fire of the enemy, 
which came from the low bank of an old ditch. The 
thickness of the woods and undergrowth prevented the 
officers from seeing their men except in limited numbers, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


183 


while the roar of musketry was almost deafening. Very 
seldom, if ever, did troops in their first battle go so 
close to a covered line under so strong a fire and remain 
within such short distance so long a time. On no part 
of the line did the enemy leave their cover or advance 
one single foot. Our troops held their position until it 
was too dark to distinguish friend from foe. The engage¬ 
ment lasted one hour and a half. It was the first battle 
for Hatton’s brigade, and as it moved into action in the 
presence of President Davis, Gen. J. E. Johnston, com¬ 
manding the army, and Gen. R. E. Lee, then military 
adviser of the President, it is not remarkable that its 
movements, under such an inspiration, excited the 
admiration of the division general. Three fresh brigades 
were ready to move forward into close action, and there 
is no reason to doubt that with one short hour of daylight 
the enemy would have been driven into the swamps of 
the Chickahominy. As it was, darkness compelled the 
abandonment of an unfinished task, and the troops were 
withdrawn from the swamp and bivouacked within 
musket range of the enemy. When General Smith 
withdrew his troops, he was informed that General John¬ 
ston had been severely wounded and disabled, which 
misfortune devolved on him the temporary command of 
the army. On the following day at 2 o’clock p. m. Gen. 
Robert E. Lee was assigned to the command of the army. 

Seven Pines would have been a fatal day for Tennessee 
if no other casualty had befallen Hatton’s brigade than 
the fall of its commander. “The personal bearing and 
conduct of the lamented General Hatton upon the field 
were gallant, and true to his high social and official 
character,’’ said General Smith. “He fell while bravely 
and skillfully leading his brigade in the extreme front 
of the battle.” Robert Hatton carried into the military 
service of the country the good wishes and affections of 
a greater number of people of his State than any other 
•one of its citizen soldiers. Young and gifted, of the 


184 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


noblest character, he gathered about him the largest 
personal and political following. An ardent adherent and 
lover of the Federal government and Union of the States 
up to the date of President Lincoln’s proclamation calling 
for troops, he then espoused the cause of the South, and 
the influence of his action stimulated many thousands of 
Tennesseeans to abandon all allegiance to the Washington 
government. 

No officer of the brigade reported its -action on the 
battlefield or furnished lists of casualties. Capt. J. H. 
Moore, Seventh Tennessee, is authority for the state¬ 
ment that “Adjt. G. A. Howard and eight out of the ten 
company commanders and half of the privates of the 
Seventh were killed or wounded.” The losses were 
heavy in the First and Fourteenth. Dr. John Martin, 
assistant surgeon of the Fourteenth, was killed on the 
field while in the act of giving succor to a wounded 
man of his regiment. 

A short time before the battles of Mechanicsville and 
Gaines’ Mill, Brig.-Gen. J. J. Archer was assigned to the 
command of the Tennessee brigade which became part 
of A. P. Hill’s division. This organization was main¬ 
tained to the end. General Archer was distinguished at 
Seven Pines as colonel of the Fifth Texas, and there 
he won his promotion. 

In referring to his part in the battle which preceded 
the great fights around Richmond, Gen. A. P. Hill said 
it was never contemplated that his division alone should 
receive the shock of battle at Mechanicsville, but such 
was the case, the only assistance received being from the 
division commanded by Brigadier-General Ripley. It was 
the intention of General Lee to attack the Federal right 
in the early morning of the 26th of June. Gen. Stonewall 
Jackson was expected to be in position at the dawn of day, 
but receiving no intelligence from him at 3 o’clock p. m. 
General Hill determined, in pursuance of General Lee’s 
original orders, to cross the Chickahominy with a brigade, 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


185 


push on, and clear the Meadow bridge. At 3 o’clock 
General Hill crossed the bridge with his entire division, 
encountering slight opposition, the enemy falling back to 
Mechanicsville. 

The Tennessee brigade, reduced at Seven Pines to 
1,228 muskets, marched into the town and thence up the 
Mechanicsville turnpike, in line of battle, the Nineteenth 
Georgia on the left, the First Tennessee, Lieut.-Col. J. C. 
Shackelford commanding, on the right, the Fifth Alabama 
and Seventh Tennessee supporting, the Fourteenth Ten¬ 
nessee co-operating with Field’s brigade. The brigade 
moved steadily forward to Beaver Dam creek under a 
heavy fire of all arms, the enemy being heavily intrenched 
on the opposite bank. Night closed before a crossing 
could be effected, and before morning the enemy aban¬ 
doned their works and the battlefield. The Tennessee 
brigade lost 43 killed and 171 wounded, among the latter 
the gallant Maj. John A. Fite. The object of this attack, 
clearing the way for Longstreet’s corps, was fully 
accomplished. 

General McClellan, commanding the Federal army, 
stated that at the time of this battle he was satisfied that 
he had to deal with at least double his numbers. 
McClellan’s army was about 100,000 strong, with 40,000 
under McDowell covering Washington. The field returns 
of the army of Northern Virginia show a strength of 
81,000, and of this force 30,000 under Magruder were 
covering Richmond. 

On the morning of the 27th, Hill’s division crossed Bea¬ 
ver Dam creek, and under orders of General Lee, took the 
route to Cold Harbor or Gaines’ mill. 

Arriving at the creek upon which Gaines’ mill is located, 
half a mile from Cold Harbor, the enemy was discovered 
upon the opposite bank. At 2:30 p. m. of the 27th, Gen¬ 
eral Hill advanced his division to the attack, and soon dis¬ 
covered that the whole force of the enemy was in his 
front. 


186 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


The Tennessee brigade, now reduced to less than 1,000 
men, says General Archer, advanced alone and unsup- 
ported across an open field to attack the enemy posted 
and protected in the wood beyond by the works, which a 
short time afterward it required seven brigades to carry. 
The Tennesseeans advanced at a double-quick to within 
twenty steps of the breastworks, when they fell back 
before an irresistible fire of artillery and small-arms. A 
half hour later they moved forward to the attack of the 
same position and entered the works in the front line of 
attack, the enemy now being swept from the field. 

Archer’s brigade lost in this action 49 killed and 271 
wounded, a loss in the two days’ battles of 542. Among 
the killed was the intrepid Lieut.-Col. J. C. Shackelford, 
commanding the First Tennessee. Capt. William P. 
Tolley of the same regiment was dangerously wounded 
and disabled for life. He was one of the most gallant 
soldiers of the war, and enjoys the distinction of command¬ 
ing the first company organized in Tennessee. All the 
field officers of this regiment and of the Seventeenth 
Tennessee were killed or wounded. The gallant Col. 
John F. Goodner and Maj. W. H. Williamson of the 
Seventh were severely wounded. Lieut.-Col. John K. 
Howard of the same regiment received a mortal wound. 
A noble gentleman, a gifted orator, a valiant soldier, he 
fell in the first charge of his regiment, close up to the 
enemy’s works. It was not the fortune of many regi¬ 
ments to have two field officers so richly endowed intel¬ 
lectually as Hatton and Howard. In a notice of Hatton, 
written a few days after his fall, Colonel Howard said: 
“A whole community will assemble around the stricken 
widow of our general; and the mothers of the noble boys 
who fell by his side will mingle their tears with hers’ ’; 
words prophetic of a scene to be re-enacted in a few short 
weeks by the same community of people when intelligence 
of his own untimely death was received. 

Sunday, June 29th, Hill’s division recrossed the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


187 


Chickahominy, and on Monday, the 30th, it moved tip by 
the cross made by the Long Bridge road and the Quaker 
road near Frayser’s farm. Longstreet was warmly en¬ 
gaged when, Hill’s division coming up, one after another 
of his brigade was sent forward whenever assistance was 
wanted. General Hill stated that “on our extreme right, 
matters seemed to be going badly. Two brigades of 
Longstreet’s division had been roughly handled and had 
fallen back. Archer was brought up and sent in, and, in 
his shirt-sleeves, leading his gallant brigade, affairs were 
soon restored in that quarter. ’ ’ At dark the enemy made 
a desperate pressure on the Confederate line, but a part 
of Wilcox’s brigade moved into the fight at a critical 
moment with a “loud and long rebel yell, ” and the contest 
was ended by the retirement of the enemy. The trophies 
of Hill’s division this day were fourteen pieces of artillery 
and two stand of colors. 

The next evening was fought the battle of Malvern Hill. 
Hill’s division was placed in line of battle near the scene 
of action and under fire, but was not actively engaged. 
At night the Federal army continued its retreat to Harri¬ 
son’s landing on the James river. Here McClellan took 
position under the protecting guns of the fleet, fortified, 
and renewed his call for reinforcements. 

McClellan’s losses in these operations were reported 
officially to be 22,686 killed, wounded and captured; but 
more than this, his army lost its prestige, and the Wash¬ 
ington authorities were dissatisfied and disgruntled at his 
failure to capture Richmond. The army of Northern 
Virginia lost 16,782 killed, wounded and missing, but it 
won the confidence and stimulated the hopes of the coun¬ 
try, and achieved imperishable honor for its commanding 
general. 

On the 26th of June, Maj.-Gen. John Pope of the 
United States army was assigned to command of the 
Federal army of Virginia. In President Lincoln’s order 
making the assignment, he stated that the object was 


188 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


to protect “the national capital from danger of insult, 
to attack and overcome the rebel forces under Jackson 
and Ewell, and render the most effective aid to relieve 
General McClellan and capture Richmond.” Under 
date of the 14th of July, General Pope in an ad¬ 
dress to his army said: “I have come to you from the 
West, where we have always seen the backs of our enemies; 
I presume that I have been called here to pursue the 
same system.” Pope had under his command 77,779 
men of all arms, soon reinforced by Burnside’s command 
with 12,000, and by Cox from the Kanawha with 6,000. 
McClellan’s army, strong and well appointed, remained 
inactive for a month. 

On the 13th of July, General Jackson was ordered to 
Gordonsville, Pope’s advance having reached the Rap- 
idan. A. P. Hill, with his division, was ordered on July 
27th to join General Jackson. On the 21st of July, Pope, 
writing to Banks, one of his corps commanders, said, 
“Let Bayard amuse Ewell with cavalry.” He felt him¬ 
self master of the situation until on the morning of the 9th 
of August, Jackson (greatly inferior in numbers) burst 
upon him with great fury, and pushed him from the field 
in retreat, capturing 400 prisoners, including a brigadier- 
general, 5,300 stand of small-arms, one piece of artillery, 
several caissons and three colors. On the nth he sued 
for permission to bury his dead. General Jackson 
remained in position during the day of the 12th, and at 
night returned to Gordonsville. The next morning Pope 
telegraphed General Halleck, “The enemy has retreated 
under cover of the night;” but the general-in-chief, wiser 
than his redoubtable lieutenant, briefly answered, “Be¬ 
ware of a snare. Feigned retreats are Secesh tactics.” 
On the 13th, General Lee congratulated General Jackson 
on his victory. 

In this action at Cedar Run, the Tennessee troops par¬ 
ticipating were the First, Col. Peter Turney; the Seventh, 
Col. John A. Fite, and the Fourteenth, Col. W. A. Forbes, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


189 


of Archer’s brigade. General Archer reported that he 
found General Jackson’s division already engaged when 
he arrived at 5 p. m., and pushing forward to engage the 
enemy, he crossed a field under heavy fire, where he lost 
19 killed and 116 wounded, after which he met with no 
“opposition, but took a number of prisoners and contin¬ 
ued the pursuit until night.’’ The Tennesseeans lost 11 
killed, 81 wounded; among the wounded, Col. John A. 
Fite and acting Maj. James C. Franklin; among the 
killed, Lieuts. Alexander Hogan and John Wise, Seventh 
Tennessee. Lieut.-Col. G. A. Harrell, Fourteenth 
Tennessee, was mortally wounded. 

Gen. Stonewall Jackson reported that “the conduct of 
officers and men during the battle merits great praise,” 
and in concluding his report to General Lee, he said: “In 
order to render thanks to God for the victory of Cedar 
Run and other past victories, and to implore His contin¬ 
ued favor in the future, divine service was held in the 
army on August 14th.’’ 

Of the affair at Warrenton Springs ford, August 24th, 
General Archer says: ‘ ‘ My brigade remained in bivouac in 
reserve, and although exposed to heavy shelling from the 
enemy’s batteries, sustained no loss. ” After this the bri¬ 
gade marched to Manassas Junction, arriving there on the 
26th of August, advanced in line, and soon came in sight of 
the enemy. Gen. Stonewall Jackson riding up with a bat¬ 
tery, ordered General Archer to support it, and the enemy 
was soon broken and forced to retreat toward the rail¬ 
road bridge of Bull run. In this action Archer reported 
a loss of 4 killed and 17 wounded. 

August 28th the brigade marched through Centreville, 
up the Warrenton turnpike, and across Bull run, and 
formed in line nearly parallel with the railroad cut. 
When the engagement opened, about 5 p. m., Archer 
moved forward to support the batteries, and remained 
under a heavy fire of shot and shell until twilight. The 
next morning he was posted on the extreme left of Hill’s 


190 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


division. At 3 p. m. the brigade was moved to the right, 
and an hour later it advanced to the railroad cut, to the 
relief of Pender’s brigade. As the last regiment, the 
First Tennessee, entered the cut, it was ordered to fire 
on the enemy, “which it did with great effect,’’ the 
enemy answering with a furious assault upon the brigade 
front. The attack, however, was firmly and gallantly 
resisted and the enemy driven back, but reinforced he 
made a second vigorous attack which was repelled by a 
countercharge. General Archer says of this second 
charge: “Many of my men were out of ammunition 
and charged with empty rifles. I did not average two 
cartridges to the man. A third assault was repulsed in 
the same manner, my brigade charging upon the enemy 
with loud cheers and driving them back with their empty 
rifles.’’ The next morning he relieved General Early’s 
pickets with 130 men under “the brave Col. N. J. George, 
First Tennessee, who is always ready and anxious for the 
most daring service. ’ ’ Soon the brigade was attacked, the 
enemy was driven back into the woods, and Archer’s men 
“obtained a fresh supply of ammunition from the cart* 
ridge boxes of the dead Yankees.’’ At 5 o’clock p. m. 
Archer and Pender advanced into the open field where 
the enemy was posted with one battery of six guns, with 
two other batteries in supporting distance, and with 
infantry supports to all. The two brigades moved directly 
on the six-gun battery, but the enemy stood to his guns 
and continued to fire until the Confederates were within 
75 yards. At this juncture the enemy began to break, 
but Archer captured three pieces, while Pender over¬ 
took and captured the other three. This action was hotly 
contested, the loss in Archer’s brigade being 17 killed and 
196 wounded. Among the dead, Tennessee mourned Col. 
W. A. Forbes, Fourteenth, who was killed near the bat¬ 
tery captured in another moment by his comrades. A. P. 
Hill referred to him as “the brave Colonel Forbes.” 
General Archer commended in his report two Tennes- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


191 


seeans, of whom he said: “Among the officers whose gal¬ 
lantry I especially noticed in this action was Lieut. -Col. 
N. J. George, First Tennessee; also F. M. Barnes, private 
of .Company A, Fourteenth Tennessee, who seized the 
colors from the hands of the wounded color-bearer and 
bore them bravely through the fight.” Capt. Young T. 
Stubblefield and Lieut. W. E. Forbes, First Tennessee, 
were among the killed. Major Morris, Fourteenth Ten¬ 
nessee, was mortally wounded. 

General Lee reported, in the series of engagements 
on the plains of Manassas, 7,000 Federal prisoners 
taken in addition to 2,000 wounded and abandoned by 
Pope’s army, and the capture of 30 pieces of artillery and 
upward of 20,000 stand of small-arms. At Cedar Run 
and the combats and battles here recited, Archer lost in 
killed and wounded 369, out of a brigade of 1,200 strong, 
or nearly one-third of his effective total. At the battle 
of Second Manassas, Jackson reported that at one time 
pending the engagement “the opposing forces delivered 
their volleys into each other at the distance of ten paces. ’ ’ 

The Federal army fell back on Washington City and 
General Pope was at once relieved of his command. 

In the brief campaign against Pope, the Fourteenth 
Tennessee lost three field officers, Forbes, Harrell and 
Morris; Maj. William McComb succeeded Lieutenant- 
Colonel Harrell, and on the fall of Colonel Forbes, suc¬ 
ceeded to the command of the regiment. Capt. J. W. 
Lockert was made lieutenant-colonel, and Capt. J. H. 
Johnson became major. 

When General Lee started on his Maryland campaign, 
he dispatched Gen. Stonewall Jackson with about one- 
third of his army in the direction of Harper’s Ferry, which 
was invested on the evening of September 14, 1862. Ten¬ 
nesseeans participating in the series of battles from War- 
renton ford to Shepherdstown, inclusive, were the First 
Tennessee, Col. Peter Turney; Seventh Tennessee, Maj. 
S. G. Shepard; Fourteenth Tennessee, Lieut.-Col. Lockert 


192 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


of Archer’s brigade, A. P. Hill’s division. Archer 
advanced toward the southern defenses of Bolivar heights, 
in rear of Harper’s Ferry, and was halted for the night 
within 400 yards of the enemy’s guns. The next morning, 
while he was struggling through a well-constructed abatis 
in the immediate front of the enemy, the garrison, 11,000 
strong, was surrendered to General Jackson. Archer’s 
brigade lost 1 man killed and 22 wounded. 

The capture of Harper’s Ferry with the garrison and 
73 pieces of artillery, 13,000 stand of small-arms, 200 
wagons with large quantities of stores and supplies, was a 
brilliant achievement and a shock to the Federal author¬ 
ities. At once a commission, presided over by Major-Gen¬ 
eral Hunter, was organized to inquire into the causes of 
the surrender. After a long and tedious investigation the 
responsibility was fixed upon Col. Dixon S. Miles, com¬ 
manding the garrison. He was mortally wounded in the 
attack made by General Jackson’s forces, and died in a 
few hours; he could not appear before any earthly tri¬ 
bunal, still Major-General Hunter announced in his 
official report that his “incapacity, amounting to almost 
imbecility, led to the shameful surrender of this important 
post. ’ ’ 

The morning after the surrender, the Tennesseeans 
marched 17 miles to the field of Sharpsburg. It was 
a long and fatiguing march. Arriving on the field, 
Archer was placed on the left of Hill’s division and was 
immediately engaged. General Archer reported that “in 
passing over the distance, 250 yards, I lost nearly one- 
third of my already greatly-reduced command, but it 
rushed forward, alone, at double-quick, giving the enemy 
but little time to estimate its small numbers, and drove 
him from his strong position. ’ ’ The enemy was posted 
in force behind a stone fence. It was now near sunset. 

Archer remained in position all of the next day. 
The following morning General Lee retired across the 
Potomac, Archer’s brigade constituting part of the rear 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


193 


guard. At Sharpsburg the Seventh Tennessee was com¬ 
manded by Lieut. George A. Howard, adjutant of the 
regiment. The brigade lost 14 killed and 90 wounded, 
among the latter, Col. William McComb, Fourteenth. 
General Archer said of him that his gallant conduct 
attracted his attention, “though where all who were 
engaged behaved so gallantly, it is difficult to select 
examples of particular merit. ” 

Gen. R. E. Lee, referring to the conduct of Archer's 
and four other brigades of Hill’s division, said: “By this 
time, between 3 and 4 p. m., Gen. A. P. Hill with five of 
his brigades reached the scene of action, drove the enemy 
immediately from the position they had taken, restoring 
our right and maintaining our ground. ’’ Gen. A. P. Hill, 
in his report, states that when General Lee placed him in 
position he was not a moment too soon. The enemy had 
already advanced in three lines, had broken through 
D. R. Jones’ division, captured McIntosh’s battery, and 
were in full tide of success. With a yell of defiance 
Archer charged them, retook McIntosh’s guns and drove 
them back pellmell. 

When General Lee recrossed the Potomac he left 
Brigadier-General Pendleton on the Virginia side with the 
reserve artillery and 600 infantry to guard the crossing. 
During the day Gen. Fitz John Porter of the Federal 
army, with his corps, appeared on the opposite side, and 
that night (the 19th) crossed several brigades over. 
After a short engagement Pendleton’s infantry support 
gave way and four of his guns were captured. Orders 
were now sent to General Hill to return with his division 
and dislodge the enemy, who had taken position on the 
right bank of the river under cover of their artillery on 
the commanding hills on the opposite side. General Hill, 
who had bivouacked five miles in front of Shepherdstown, 
returned in the early morning of the 20th, made his for¬ 
mation, and advanced to attack the enemy, who had lined 
the opposite hills with 70 pieces of artillery, and posted 

Tenn 13 


194 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the infantry who had crossed on the crest of the high 
banks of the Virginia shores. General Hill stated that 
his troops advanced in the face of the most tremendous 
fire of artillery he had ever witnessed, and too much 
praise could not be awarded the regiments for their steady, 
unwavering step. General Pender, with three brigades, 
became hotly engaged, and Archer, commanding his own, 
Lane’s and Brockenbrough’s brigades, moved by the 
left flank, and after forming on Pender’s left, a simulta¬ 
neous daring charge was made which drove the enemy in 
mad confusion in the river. “Then commenced the most 
terrible slaughter that has yet been witnessed. The 
broad surface of the Potomac was blue with the floating 
bodies of our foe. But few escaped to tell the tale.” 
General Archer reported that many of the enemy’s troops 
were killed, and many driven down the precipitous banks 
into the river. Two hundred prisoners were taken. 
Archer and Pender had 30 killed and 231 wounded. In 
this affair, Col. Peter Turney commanded the First, Col¬ 
onel Lockert the Fourteenth, and Adjt. George A. How¬ 
ard the Seventh Tennessee. 

At nightfall the brigade returned to the bivouac of the 
previous night. General Lee marched his army to the 
Opequon near Martinsburg, and after a few days to the 
vicinity of Winchester, marching thence after a long rest 
a distance of 175 miles in twelve days. Archer’s brigade 
reached the Massaponax hills near Fredericksburg on the 
3d of December. 

‘ ‘ The history of the achievements of the army from the 
time it advanced from Gordonsville leaves nothing to be 
said in commendation of the courage, fortitude and good 
conduct of both officers and men, ” said General Lee in his 
official report. 

On the 5th of November, 1862, President Lincoln 
relieved Major-General McClellan and assigned Major- 
General Burnside to the command of the army of the 
Potomac. General Burnside assumed command and con- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


195 


centrated the army, 113,000 strong, at Fredericksburg. 
General Lee, discovering his purpose, rapidly concentrated 
the army of Northern Virginia, and when the Federal army 
crossed the Rappahannock, he was in position ready for 
Burnside’s attack. Burnside crossed the river on the 
night of the nth of December, 1862, with a division, and 
occupied Fredericksburg. On the 13th his troops were 
all over the river, and at 9 a. m. his advance was made 
on the right wing of our army commanded by Gen. Stone¬ 
wall Jackson. A. P. Hill’s division, on Jackson’s right, 
was fiercely assailed. 

General Archer, commanding the Tennesseeans, re¬ 
ported that when the enemy advanced upon his brigade, 
several batteries were brought forward and placed in 
position, about 1,000 yards distant; at 10:30 they turned 
all their guns on his line, and after thirty minutes Meade’s 
and Doubleday’s divisions boldly came forward to the 
attack. This advance was met with such a destructive 
fire that the enemy in front hastily fell back and took 
shelter in a railroad cut, where he remained during the 
action. In the meantime another column of troops 
entered the point of wood on Archer’s left, passing around 
his flank, and attacked the Nineteenth Georgia and Four¬ 
teenth Tennessee in rear with a superior force, and com¬ 
pelled these regiments to retire, leaving 160 prisoners in 
the enemy’s hands. A part of the Seventh Tennessee, 
seeing the regiments on the left give way, left the 
trenches in disorder. The First Tennessee, said General 
Archer, with Lieuts. F. A. Timberlake, O. H. Foster, B. 
Wilmouth and Wm. T. Baird of the Seventh Tennessee, 
with a portion of their regiment, held the ground gal¬ 
lantly, and after ammunition was exhausted, charged with 
empty guns under Lieut.-Col. N. J. George (Colonel 
Turney having been wounded early in the action) across 
the railroad track, with Hoke’s brigade of Early’s divi¬ 
sion, and forced the enemy to retire in confusion. Gen. 
R. E. Lee, referring to this action in his official report, 


186 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


said Archer and Lane repulsed that portion of the line in 
their immediate front, but before the interval between 
these commands could be closed, the enemy passed 
through in overwhelming numbers and turned the left of 
Archer and the right of Lane, attacking in front and flank 
the two regiments of Archer and the brigade of Lane, 
which after a brave and obstinate resistance gave way. 
Archer held his line with the First Tennessee and with 
the Fifth Alabama battalion, assisted by the Forty-second 
Virginia and the Twenty-second Virginia battalion, until 
reinforcements arrived. It was at this point that Lieu¬ 
tenant-Colonel George made the brilliant and effective 
charge, in connection with Hoke’s brigade, that contribu¬ 
ted largely to the general success. 

General Archer stated that Lieut. Z. G, Gunn, Four¬ 
teenth Tennessee, fell in the most gallant performance of 
duty. Colonel Turney, Lieutenant-Colonel George, Maj. 
F. G. Buchanan and Capt. M. Turney, First Tennessee, 
were wounded. 

General Lee had 20,000 troops engaged, of which he 
lost 4,101 killed and wounded. Burnside reported 1,152 
killed and 9,000 wounded. The official returns give his 
loss at 12,658. General Lee captured 900 prisoners and 
9,000 stand of arms. 

The 14th and 15 th passed without an attempt at an 
advance, and during the night of the 15th, Burnside 
retreated across the Rappahannock. 

General Burnside stated in his official report of the 
battle that he had made ‘ ‘ four distinct efforts ’ ’ (to cross 
the Rappahannock) between November 9, 1862, and 
January 25, 1863. The first failed for want of pontoons; 
the second was the battle of Fredericksburg; the third was 
stopped by President Lincoln, and the fourth was defeated 
by the elements. On the 25th of January he was relieved 
and Maj.-Gen. Joseph Hooker was assigned to the com¬ 
mand of the army of the Potomac. 

After the battle of Fredericksburg, the army of North- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


197 


ern Virginia under General Lee remained encamped on 
the south side of the Rappahannock until the latter part 
of April, 1863, the Federal army, then under General 
Hooker, occupying the north side of the river opposite 
Fredericksburg, extending to the Potomac. On the 28th, 
the enemy crossed the river in force at Fredericks¬ 
burg, but no advance was attempted. General Lee learned 
that Hooker was moving a large force up and across the 
Rappahannock and across the Rapidan, following routes 
near Chancellorsville, with the purpose of gaining the rear 
of the Confederate army. On the 1st of May, Jackson’s 
corps moved in the direction of Chancellorsville, at 8 
a. m. began preparation for battle, and the enemy now 
advancing was easily pushed back to Chancellorsville. 

At 11 a. m. on the 2d, Archer’s brigade was withdrawn 
from the plank road and was ordered to the left of the 
Welford Furnace road; but after marching two miles the 
brigade commander learned that a large body of the 
enemy had attacked our army train in his rear and driven 
off the troops guarding it. On receiving this important 
information he at once returned and found that the 
enemy had been repulsed by Lieut.-Col. J. T. Brown of 
the artillery, assisted by detachments of infantry, among 
them Capt. W. S. Moore with two companies of the 
Fourteenth Tennessee. Captain Moore, who had just 
been relieved from picket duty, was returning to his regi¬ 
ment, and thus was opportunely at the right place when 
the train was attacked and bore a conspicuous part in its 
protection. In his official report, General Lee made hon¬ 
orable mention of Captain Moore and his command. 

The next morning General Archer moved forward to 
the attack, driving the enemy’s skirmishers. The bri¬ 
gade attacked at a double-quick and drove the enemy in 
confusion, capturing four pieces of artillery and 100 pris¬ 
oners. Referring to this incident, General Heth, com¬ 
manding the division (General Hill having been wounded), 
said General Archer advanced with his brigade, conform- 


198 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ing his line of battle to that of the enemy, charged the 
works in his front, and without the least halt or hesitation 
carried them, driving the enemy before him, who outnum¬ 
bered him five to one. General Archer captured a four- 
gun battery. By his gallant attack he secured the key to the 
enemy’s position, clearing a hill and open space in his front 
and gaining for our artillery a position from which they 
were enabled to silence the 29-gun battery of the enemy 
which had inflicted so much loss on our lines. From this 
position our artillery had also a raking fire on the enemy’s 
works on our right. Archer, after carrying the hill, 
advanced beyond the open space and attacked the enemy 
on his right, at which time he was joined by Anderson’s 
division. Reinforcements were brought up, a general 
advance took place, the enemy’s works were cleared, and 
he fell back in the direction of the United States ford. 
The field was won, but the fall of Stonewall Jackson made 
Chancellorsville a dearly-bought victory.” 

The Tennessee regiments of Archer’s brigade were com¬ 
manded as follows: The First by Lieut.-Col. N. J. George, 
the Second by Lieut.-Col. John A. Fite, and the Four¬ 
teenth by Lieut. -Col. Wm. McComb until, being wounded, 
he was succeeded by Capt. R. C. Wilson. Capt. W. W. 
Thompson, Fourteenth, and Lieut. Andrew T. Paul, 
Seventh, were killed. The three Tennessee regiments 
lost 189 killed, wounded and missing, of which number 
16 were captured. The Federal army of the Potomac 
lost during the Chancellorsville campaign in killed, 
wounded and missing, 17,287 officers and men, and 
retreated across the Rappahannock after signal defeats at 
Chancellorsville, Marye’shill, and Salem heights. With 
a conspicuous absence of modesty, under date of the 6th 
of May, General Hooker issued a general order in which 
he tenders “to this army my congratulations on its 
achievements of the last seven days. ’ ’ 

After General Lee’s decisive victory at Chancellorsville 
he determined to draw the Federal army from its position 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


199 


on the Rappahannock, and at the same time expel the 
Federal general, Milroy, from the valley of Virginia. In 
execution of this purpose, Hill’s division was left in front 
of Hooker and the other two corps commenced the move¬ 
ment resulting in the victory at Winchester on the 13th 
of June, which was followed by the march into Pennsyl¬ 
vania. Hooker, seeming to become bewildered by 
these movements, and uncertain as to the whereabouts of 
Lee’s army, abandoned his position on the Rappahannock. 
As late as the 17th of June he telegraphed the general- 
in-chief at Washington: “In your opinion is there any 
foundation for the report that the Confederates are at 
Chambersburg, Pa.?’’ On the 27th he was relieved 
and Maj.-Gen. George C. Meade was assigned to the com¬ 
mand of the army of the Potomac. The army was already 
in motion. 

When General Hill advanced on Gettysburg on the 
morning of the 1st of July, he found it in possession 
of Buford’s Federal cavalry and the First, Third and 
Eleventh army corps under Major-General Reynolds. 
Major-General Heth, in advance, stated that his divi¬ 
sion was disposed as follows: Archer’s Tennessee 
brigade on the right, with Davis’ brigade on the left, 
both in line of battle, Pettigrew’s and Brocken- 
brough’s in reserve. On the right of the turnpike 
Archer encountered heavy masses in his front, and 
his gallant little brigade, after being almost surrounded 
by superior forces in front and on both flanks, was 
forced back. The service at this time, said the divi¬ 
sion general, “lost that most gallant and meritorious 
officer. Brig.-Gen. James L. Archer,’’ who, with 60or 70 of 
his men, was captured. A second advance was made by 
Heth’s and Pender’s divisions, and Lieutenant-General 
Ewell, coming up with two of his divisions, joined in the 
engagement, and the enemy were driven through Gettys¬ 
burg with heavy loss, including about 5,000 prisoners and 
several pieces of artillery. Of the action of Archer’s bri- 


200 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


gade, Col. B. D. Fry, Thirteenth Alabama, commanding, 
General Heth said: “This brigade, the heroes of Chan- 
cellorsville, fully maintained its hard-won and well-de¬ 
served reputation. ’ ’ During the night and the next day 
Archer’s brigade was in position on the right of Hill’s 
corps. This success and the partial successes of Long- 
street’s and Ewell’s corps on the 2d, determined General 
Lee to continue the assault the next day, the enemy in 
the meantime having strengthened his lines with earth¬ 
works. 

On the afternoon of the 3d of July, after the necessary 
preparation had been completed, the assault on Cemetery 
hill was made by Pickett’s and Heth’s divisions in the 
frontline, Heth’s division commanded by Brigadier-Gen¬ 
eral Pettigrew (General Heth having been wounded in 
the affair of the 1st). The glory and fame of this charge, 
one of the most famous of modern times, belong alike to 
Pickett’s and Heth’s divisions. They went forward sup¬ 
ported by Wilcox’s brigade of Anderson’s division, and 
Lane’s and Scales’ brigades of Pender’s division, under 
Major-General Trimble, the gallant Pender having 
received a mortal wound. Lieut.-Col. S. G. Shepard, com¬ 
manding the Seventh Tennessee, who succeeded to the 
command of Archer’s brigade after the capture of Col¬ 
onel Fry, in an official report stated that his brigade was 
on the right of Heth’s division in the following order: 
First Tennessee on the right, next the Thirteenth Ala¬ 
bama, next the Fourteenth Tennessee, on its left the Sev¬ 
enth Tennessee, and the Fifth Alabama battalion on the 
left of the brigade. 

The brigade was on the left of Pickett’s division. The 
enemy reserved his fire until the line was in close range, 
and then opened a terrible and well-directed volley. 
“Within 180 or 200 yards of his works,’’ said the brigade 
commander, “we came upon a lane running between 
two fences made of stout posts and plank. This was a 
great obstruction to us, but the men rushed over as 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


201 


rapidly as possible, and advanced directly upon the en¬ 
emy’s works, the first line of which was composed of 
rough stones. The enemy abandoned this, but just in 
rear was massed a heavy force. By the time we reached 
this work, our lines all along, as far as I could see, had 
become very much weakened. Archer’s brigade re¬ 
mained at the works fighting as long as any other troops 
on the right or left. Every flag in the brigade except 
one was captured at or within the enemy’s works. ” The 
First Tennessee had three color-bearers shot down, the 
third one at the works; the Thirteenth Alabama lost three; 
the Fourteenth Tennessee had four shot down; the Seventh 
Tennessee lost three, all under the same circumstances, 
except when the third color-bearer of the Seventh fell, 
the colors were torn from the staff by Capt. A. D. Norris 
of that regiment, and concealed upon his person and 
restored to the regiment. Of seven field officers of the 
brigade, five were wounded and captured inside of the 
enemy’s works. Colonel Fry, Lieut.-Col. N. J. George, 
First Tennessee, Major (afterward lieutenant-colonel) 
Fite, Seventh Tennessee, the noble Capt. W. H. Wil¬ 
liamson, afterward major of the Seventh, who lost an 
arm, were among the number. The loss in company 
officers and men (their names were not reported) was in 
the same proportion. 

Capt. John H. Moore, of the Seventh Tennessee, one 
of the most distinguished officers of his rank in the serv¬ 
ice, in a communication published in the Philadelphia 
Times, stated that he lost 40 killed and wounded out of a 
total of 47 of his company, and that one company of North 
Carolina troops, of Pettigrew’s brigade, 84 strong, lost 
every officer and man killed or wounded. Captain Moore 
added, that “in justice to the hundreds of Heth’s division 
who fell in the works on Cemetery hill, in the lane and 
open fields, in the advance or retreat, I cannot be indif¬ 
ferent when the story of that grand charge is told, unless 
honors are divided with Heth’s division.” The brigade, 

Tenn 14 


202 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


in the battles of the ist and 3d, out of a total present of 
1,043, lost 677 killed, wounded and captured. After the 
repulse of our attacking column, General Lee remained 
in position in front of the enemy, awaiting an attack until 
the night of the 4th, when he retired and fell back be¬ 
yond Hagerstown, Md., without molestation. 

Gettysburg was a victory for the enemy, but it was won 
at great cost,—his return of casualties showing a loss of 
23,049 killed, wounded and captured. The returns also 
show a great Confederate loss, 20,451. The killed in the 
Federal army was 307 in excess of the killed in General 
Lee’s army, and the wounded exceeded that of the Con¬ 
federates by 684. In prisoners, the excess in favor of 
General Lee was 32. General Lee’s prisoners were cap¬ 
tured on the battlefield. Except the captures made on 
Cemetery hill and a few on the afternoon of the ist, the 
prisoners lost by the army of Northern Virginia were bare¬ 
footed and foot-sore stragglers, captured after the battle. 

Leaving Hagerstown, Heth’s and Pender’s divisions 
constituting the rear guard of the army, Lee took po¬ 
sition between that point and Williamsport, then retired 
on the evening of the 13th to a point one mile and a half 
l *om Falling Waters, and formed line of battle. About 
11:30 a. m., says General Heth (now sufficiently recov¬ 
ered to command his division), a small body of cavalry 
numbering 40 or 55 men dashed up and charged his line, 
and in less than three minutes all of this reckless squad 
were killed but two or three. The noble General Petti¬ 
grew and one man of the Seventh Tennessee were mor¬ 
tally wounded. The charge by this body of Federal 
cavalry was made upon the First, Seventh and Four¬ 
teenth Tennessee and Thirteenth Alabama. A few min¬ 
utes later, a large body of dismounted cavalry with artil¬ 
lery made a vigorous attack on Brockenbrough’s bri¬ 
gade, which was repulsed; but the enemy being heavily 
reinforced, Brockenbrough retired under orders. 

On the 14th of July, General Meade telegraphed Gen- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


203 


eral Halleck at Washington, that Brig.-Gen. Judson Kil¬ 
patrick, of the Federal cavalry, had captured a brigade 
of Confederate infantry, two pieces of artillery, two cais¬ 
sons, and a large number of small-arms at Falling Waters. 
This telegram was given to the public prints, and called 
forth an official reply and denial from General Lee, dated 
the 21st of July, 1863, in which he said: “The enemy did 
not capture any organized body of men. It rained with¬ 
out cessation, rendering the road very difficult to pass, 
and causing much delay. While the column was thus 
detained on the road, a number of men, worn down with 
fatigue, lay down in barns and by the roadside, and many 
were in this way left behind. The two guns were left in 
the road, because the horses that drew them were ex¬ 
hausted. ’ ’ The attack made by the redoubtable Kilpat¬ 
rick was upon Archer’s Tennessee brigade and Brocken- 
brough’s Virginia brigade, and not a man was captured. 
Stragglers representing all commands were taken be¬ 
tween Hagerstown and Falling Waters; but every 
advance made by Kilpatrick was repulsed. General Heth 
reported that “the enemy made two cavalry charges, and 
on each occasion I witnessed the unhorsing of the entire 
party.” Concluding his report, made in October, 1863, he 
said: “I desire to brand upon its perpetrator a falsehood 
and correct an error. General Meade reported to his gov¬ 
ernment that Kilpatrick had captured a brigade of in¬ 
fantry in the fight at Falling Waters. After General Lee’s 
denial, General Meade reaffirmed his first statement upon 
the authority of Kilpatrick. General Kilpatrick, in order 
to glorify himself, has told a deliberate falsehood.” Heth 
had no artillery present, and seeing the necessity for it, 
an application was sent forward to General Hill for a 
battery, but his staff officer returned with an order to 
withdraw and cross the Potomac. 

The Tennessee brigade, of Heth’s division, began the 
battle of Gettysburg and fought the combat at Falling 
Waters, the last one of the army of Northern Virginia 


204 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


north of the Potomac. General Archer suffered a long 
imprisonment, and was one of the victims of that barba¬ 
rous action on the part of the Federal authorities which 
placed him, with a shipload of Confederate officers, under 
the fire of our own guns in Charleston harbor. He was 
exchanged in the autumn of 1864, and was promoted to 
major-general, but was unfit for duty, and died from dis¬ 
ease contracted in Charleston harbor. He was greatly 
beloved by his Tennessee brigade, at the head of which 
he had won distinction. 

Gen. U. S. Grant, promoted lieutenant-general and 
assigned to the command of the armies of the United 
States, on May 4, 1865, crossed the Rapidan at Ely’s 
and Germanna fords with an army 140,000 strong. 
General Lee confronted him with 64,000 men of all arms. 
In the battles which followed, Brig.-Gen. H. H. Walker 
commanded the Tennessee brigade; the First Tennessee 
was commanded by Maj. Felix G. Buchanan, the Seventh 
1 by Lieut.-Col. Samuel G. Shepard, the Fourteenth by 
Col. William McComb. On the 5th of May, Major-Gen¬ 
eral Warren, with the Fifth Federal corps, attacked 
Ewell’s corps, and was repulsed with a loss of many pris¬ 
oners and four pieces of artillery. At the same time 
Getty’s division, of the Sixth Federal corps, was sent out 
on the Orange plank road, reinforced by Hancock’s corps, 
and a combined assault was made upon Heth’s and Wil¬ 
cox’s divisions of Hills’ corps, which, said General Meade, 
“was done at first successfully;’’ but these two divisions, 
said General Lee, “resisted successfully repeated and 
desperate assaults’’ made by a very superior force. Heth 
and Wilcox inflicted such serious injury on the attacking 
force that Wadsworth’s division and Baxter’s brigade of 
Warren’s corps were hurried forward as reinforcements, 
but no advance was attempted, and night suspended hos¬ 
tilities. The next morning General Grant telegraphed to 
Halleck, “So far, there is no decisive result. Our loss to 
this time, 11:30 a. m., I do not think exceeds 8,000.“ 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


205 


Heth’s division opened the battle of the Wilderness. 
The Tennessee brigade was in line of battle for eighteen 
hours without rest. It was in good form and never deliv¬ 
ered battle with greater intrepidity. At 5 a. m. of the 6th 
the enemy advanced, now reinforced by Burnside’s corps. 
The attacks made by the Fifth and Sixth corps, said Gen¬ 
eral Meade, were “without any particular success.” He 
claims that Hancock’s corps, with Wadsworth’s and Getty’s 
divisions, forced Heth and Wilcox to fall back for a mile 
in confusion, and states that “ Longstreet’s corps coming 
up, the tide of battle was turned and our victorious line 
was forced back. ’ ’ At the close of the day, Longstreet, 
with a part of his corps, turned the right of the Sixth 
corps, capturing the general officers and many men, and 
this terminated the battle of the Wilderness. 

On the 8th, Gen. R. H. Anderson, with the advance of the 
Confederate army, repulsed the enemy with great slaugh¬ 
ter and took possession of Spottsylvania Court House. 
Receiving reinforcements, General Grant renewed the 
attack and was handsomely driven back. On the 10th, 
General Early, commanding Hill’s corps, drove the enemy 
from a position he had taken between Shady Grove 
church and the court house, taking one gun and a few 
prisoners, in which engagement Brig.-Gen. H. H. 
Walker, commanding the Tennessee brigade, was severely 
wounded, losing a leg. Colonel McComb, of the Four¬ 
teenth Tennessee, succeeded to the command. On the 
evening of the nth, Heth’s division was on the extreme 
right of our army. “The works occupied by the Tennes¬ 
see brigade extended about 50 yards in front of the 
general direction of our line, and terminated in an acute 
angle with 50 yards of open space between the line and 
the pine woods. Our skirmish line was engaged in the 
early morning of the 12th, the Federal artillery opening 
at the same time. At 9 a. m., in the midst of a heavy 
rainfall, our skirmishers were driven in, and soon Warren, 
with the Fifth corps, emerged in three lines from the 


206 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


woods into the open space. We poured volley after vol¬ 
ley into their well-dressed ranks and drove them to the 
cover of the pines; in a few minutes the enemy reformed 
and made another advance to the open space, but another 
volley forced him to retire and fall back far into the pine 
woods. The two assaults made on the angle held by the 
Tennessee brigade were less than an hour in duration, 
yet the Federal dead and wounded were as thick on the 
ground as if a battle had raged for a day. ” (Capt. J. H. 
Moore, Seventh Tennessee.) Lieut. F. S. Harris, Seventh 
Tennessee, commanding the division of sharpshooters, 
and Lieut. Byrd Wilmouth, commanding the skirmish 
line, pursued the enemy with vigor. Both officers were 
conspicuous for valor—the gallant Wilmouth was killed; 
Harris survived the war and seven wounds received in 
battle. 

General Grant changed the position of his army from 
time to time, but invariably found the army of Northern 
Virginia in his front. Frequent skirmishes and combats 
without results occurred until the armies met at Cold 
Harbor. On the ist of June, Major-General Pickett re¬ 
joined General Lee with 5,000 men, increasing his strength 
to 45,000. Grant was reinforced by 12,000, increasing his 
effective strength to 112,000. General Grant said: “We 
assaulted at 4:30 a. m. to-day (June 3d) without gaining 
any decisive advantage. ’’ General Lee reported that the 
Federal attack was met with great steadiness and repulsed 
in every instance. Later in the day it was twice renewed 
against Heth’s division on the left and repulsed with 
loss. In these two attacks, the Tennessee brigade under 
McComb added luster to its already splendid reputation. 

Grant reported a loss at the Wilderness of 17,666, at 
Spottsylvania 18,399, North Anna and other combats 
3,986, at Cold Harbor 12,738, a total of 52,789 killed, 
wounded and captured in a campaign of a month. The 
army under General Lee lost during the campaign 20,000 
killed, wounded and captured. In a dispatch to Halleck, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


207 


dated the day of his signal defeat at Cold Harbor, General 
Grant confessed to the failure of his plan of campaign, and 
soon began the siege of Petersburg and the attack on 
Richmond. 

The battle of Drewry’s Bluff was fought by the Fed¬ 
eral army of the James, composed of the Tenth and 
Eighteenth army corps and a division of cavalry under 
command of Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, and a Confederate 
force under General Beauregard, consisting of three small 
divisions under Major-General Hoke, Major-General 
Ransom and Brigadier-General Colquitt, in all ten bri¬ 
gades and three battalions of artillery. The Seventeenth 
and Twenty-third Tennessee, under Col. R. H. Keeble, 
the Twenty-fifth and Forty-fourth, under Col. John S. 
Fulton, and the Sixty-third, under Col. Abraham Fulker¬ 
son, constituted Bushrod Johnson’s brigade, of Hoke’s 
division. 

From his headquarters at Drewry’s farm, General 
Beauregard issued orders dated the 15th of May, concen¬ 
trating his forces at that point, his purpose, as stated, 
being to cut off the army of the James from its base of 
operations at Bermuda Hundred, and capture or destroy 
it. Ransom’s division moved out at 4:45 of May 16th, 
in line of battle, and soon encountering the Federals, car¬ 
ried the enemy’s breastworks in his front by 6 a. m., and 
after resting a moment, reinforced by one of Colquitt’s 
brigades, advanced to the attack. At this hour a part of 
Hoke’s division was actively engaged. Bushrod Johnson’s 
and Hagood’s brigades were soon thrown forward, and 
Hagood, said General Beauregard, “with great vigor and 
dash, drove the enemy from his outer lines, capturing a 
number of prisoners and, in conjunction with Johnson, 
five pieces of artillery. Johnson, meanwhile, had been 
heavily engaged. The line of the enemy bent round his 
right flank, subjecting his brigade for a time to fire in 
flank and front, but with admirable firmness he repulsed 
frequent assaults of the enemy moving in masses against 


208 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


his right and rear. Leader, officers and men alike dis¬ 
played their fitness for the trial to which they were sub¬ 
jected. I cannot forbear to mention Lieutenant Wag¬ 
goner, of the Twenty-third Tennessee, who went along 
through a storm of fire and pulled down a white flag 
which a small, isolated body of our men (stragglers from 
another command) had raised, receiving a wound in the 
act. The brigade, holding its ground nobly, lost more 
than one-fourth of its entire number. At length, John¬ 
son, having brushed the enemy from his right flank in 
the woods, cleared his front and rested his troops in the 
shelter of the outer works.” Col. H. R. Keeble, Seven¬ 
teenth and Twenty-third Tennessee, a veteran soldier of 
great distinction, in his official report dated May 22, 1864, 
stated: “My orders from General Johnson were to move 
down the turnpike by the left flank until I reached the 
outer line of fortifications, when I would halt, front and 
move forward in connection with General Ransom’s divi¬ 
sion. Long before I reached the outer line of fortifications, 
I discovered that the enemy were still occupying our 
works (heretofore constructed and occupied), with a bat¬ 
tery of five pieces (Parrott guns) planted in the center 
of the turnpike, a little beyond the fortifications. We, 
however, continued to move forward under a shower of 
grape, canister and minie balls, which swept up the turn¬ 
pike. Reaching the trenches, line was immediately 
formed confronting the enemy, and here commenced and 
raged for two hours one of the most desperate actions in 
which I have ever been engaged. The enemy were in 
strong force in our trenches, and their battery, already 
named, played upon us furiously. They were vastly 
outnumbering me, and nothing but the thickness of the 
wall between us. They had also succeeded in throwing 
a force upon my right flank and rear, from which we 
received a galling fire. Having thus, in a measure, sur¬ 
rounded us, they frequently demanded our surrender, 
which was met by yells of defiance and volleys from my 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


209 


regiment. With their battery in our front, their infantry 
in front, upon my flank and rear, the case seemed des¬ 
perate to the last degree; but by causing the rear rank of 
my regiment to face about, we thus met and fought them 
on all sides; succeeded in driving them off and holding 
our position, silenced and captured their battery of Par¬ 
rott guns. One of the pieces was brought to the rear by 
a detail from my own regiment. Some other brigade or 
command passed over the ground where the other pieces 
were left, and I understand, claimed to have captured the 
battery.” General Beauregard accorded the honor to 
another, “in conjunction with Johnson,” but the gallant 
Keeble, with his Seventeenth and Twenty-third Tennes¬ 
see, drove the enemy from the battery after one of the 
fiercest contests of the war and fairly carried off the 
honors. 

General Butler, commanding the “army of the James,” 
in his official report, makes this light reference to the 
battle: “The enemy, taking advantage of a very thick 
fog, made an attack upon the right of General Smith’s 
line (the Eighteenth army corps), and forced it back with 
some confusion and considerable loss. The troops having 
been on incessant duty for five days, I retired at leisure 
within my own lines. ’ ’ He reported his losses during the 
month of May at Port Walthall, Swift creek and other 
skirmishes, including Drewry’s Bluff, at 5,958 killed, 
wounded and captured. In spite of Butler’s flippant 
report, the battle was a disastrous one to him. Major- 
General Gilmore, commanding the Tenth corps, at 7:25 
a. m. asked General Butler in a written dispatch if it were 
true that General Brooks’ (commanding division in 
Eighteenth corps) right was turned and a 20-pounder 
battery lost. General Butler answered, “No truth in 
report. ” Very soon after this, Butler dispatched Gilmore: 
“Brooks is falling back to second line; Weitzel is also 
falling back.” In a little while, at 9:30 a. m., General 
Gilmore states that he received a dispatch from Butler 


210 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


informing him that “the enemy is pressing around our 
right; Smith has fallen back to near Halfway house; the 
enemy is near Dr. Howlett’s. You must fall back, press 
to the right, and get in rear of Smith’s corps. He will 
try to hold his ground until you get in his rear, and clear 
the road to the intrenchments so that we may get back 
behind the defenses. Push vigorously.” General But¬ 
ler’s heroic soul was “in a flame of zeal severe.” At io 
a. m. he again dispatched Gilmore to “get there at once; 
the troops at General Ames’ old position are forced back. 
We will lose the turnpike unless you hurry. ” Brigadier- 
General Weitzel reported officially that “the four regi¬ 
ments of Heckman’s brigade were crushed by the (Con¬ 
federate) attack. This was no surprise on account of the 
fog, as the whole division was in line of battle and pre¬ 
pared for the shock, having several times received warn¬ 
ing. ” Heckman’s brigade held the position assailed by 
Johnson’s Tennessee brigade. General Weitzel reported 
that Heckman’s brigade was crushed by a very large and 
overwhelming force. Johnson assailed him with 871 
muskets. Col. G. A. Stedman, Jr., Eleventh Connecti¬ 
cut, was on Heckman’s right. In his report he stated 
that “finding myself unsupported and in danger of anni¬ 
hilation or capture, I faced the regiment about and 
marched to the rear, constantly obliquing to the right to 
avoid the enemy, who were following the regiment with 
yells.” General Weitzel reported that “toward evening 
the army started for home. ’ ’ He could have added—badly 
beaten by an inferior force (in numbers and equipments) 
of ragged, barefooted Confederates. The French emper¬ 
or’s theory that poverty and deprivation make good sol¬ 
diers was illustrated at Drewry’s Bluff. 

“The army of the James” left in the hands of General 
Beauregard 1,400 prisoners, 5 pieces of artillery, 5 stand 
of colors, 3,936 stand of small-arms, and 60,000 to 70,000 
rounds of ammunition. Among the Tennesseeans who 
fell were Lieut.-Col. John L. McEwen, Forty-fourth; 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


211 


Lieut.-Col. Matt Floyd, Seventeenth; Lieut.-Col. John 
Alfred Aiken, Sixty-third; Maj. S. H. Carver, Twenty- 
fifth; Capt. R. A. Rutledge and Lieut. Wm. T. Battles, 
Sixty-third. In the list of severely wounded were Cap¬ 
tain Cortner and Lieutenant Patrick, Twenty-third; Capts. 
J. H. Curtis, Twenty-fifth, and C. R. Milliard, Sixty- 
third. “Frank A. Moses, the gallant standard-bearer of 
the Sixty-third, while bearing the flag to victory was 
three times severely wounded, whereupon Private James 
A. Lindamood seized the flag, and bearing it aloft, called 
loudly for the men to go forward. Sergt. Thomas Mor¬ 
rell was wounded nine times and killed. Adam Harr, a 
brave private, was shot in the head and left side; calling 
for help, he was asked where he was shot, and replied, 
‘Right through the heart and brain.’ Yet he survived 
the war.’’ (Col. A. Fulkerson, Sixty-third.) 

Not many days after Drewry’s Bluff, Gen. Bushrod 
Johnson was made a major-general, and the command of 
Johnson’s famous brigade devolved upon the gallant John 
S. Fulton, Forty-fourth Tennessee, who had led it with 
distinction at Chickamauga and Knoxville. Justice in 
General Johnson’s case was tardy and cruel. He com¬ 
manded brigades as brigadier-general at Fort Donelson, 
Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro, a division at Chick¬ 
amauga and Knoxville, and won promotion on every held. 
At Chickamauga he pierced the enemy’s lines and won 
the battle, but he was a modest man who never learned 
the trick of “cowering low with blandishment.’’ 

At dawn on the 16th of June, Bushrod Johnson with 
his command abandoned the Bermuda Hundred line, 
under orders from General Beauregard, and arrived at 
Petersburg about io o’clock a. m. General Beauregard 
had now about 10,000 men of all arms to meet the Second 
and Eighteenth army corps, commanded, respectively, 
by Hancock and Smith. Burnside’s corps (the Ninth) 
came up at noon. The Federal forces now outnumbered 
Beauregard by six to one. At nightfall Warren’s corps, the 


212 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Fifth, reached Petersburg, swelling the Federal force to 
over 90,000 men. Late in the afternoon Beauregard’s 
line of defense was assaulted, only a few hours having 
been occupied in preparing temporary earthworks, hastily 
constructed, in the absence of intrenching tools, with 
bayonets and all manner of substitutes. Yet three hours 
were occupied by the Federal army in efforts to break the 
Confederate line; assaults were made, repeated, and 
repulsed time and again, until finally a part of Hancock’s 
corps made a lodgment. The Tennessee brigade (John¬ 
son’s), now reduced to less than 600 men, occupied the 
extreme right of the line, which it held in the several 
assaults made upon it, the enemy being driven back with 
heavy loss. 

The most notable event of the day was the action of 
Lieut. F. M. Kelso, Forty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Tennes¬ 
see. In an official report to General Johnson he stated that 
“Between Batteries 14 and 15 there was a space between 
the right of the brigade occupied by the Forty-fourth 
Tennessee and Battery 15 of about 100 yards. Colonel 
Fulton, Forty-fourth, said this space was to have been 
filled by other troops. About 5 p. m. the enemy made 
two charges. The first was repulsed; the second was made 
bearing upon the extreme right, moving right-oblique. 
I took seventeen men and occupied the interval between 
the right of the Forty-fourth and Battery 15, and engaged 
the enemy, who was rapidly advancing. I deployed my 
command, covering about 50 yards of the unoccupied 
space. The enemy continued the advance until within 
50 yards of our intrenchments. One of the enemy’s 
colors was shot down six times. There was a ravine 
about 50 yards distant, in which the force in my front 
lay down and raised the white flag. I ceased firing and 
called upon them to surrender. After a few minutes I 
marched out of the works and received the surrender of 
400 to 700 men, and marched them inside of our works. 
I captured the flags of three regiments. One was the splen- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


213 


did banner of the Excelsior One Hundred and Thirteenth 
regiment of New York; another was a white bunting 
flag, in the center of which was emblazoned in red the 
ace of clubs, the badge of the Second corps.” It was 
facetiously said that stout hearts were trumps and Kelso 
took the trick. Colonel Fulton reported that he was 
cognizant of the facts, and General Johnson stated that 
as many prisoners were taken as he had men engaged in 
his brigade. The names of some of Kelso's seventeen 
heroes are recalled, and deserve preservation for all time: 
Sergts. G. W. D. Porter and J. J. Martin; Corp. Turner 
Goodall (mortally wounded); Privates George Crabtree, 
Ira Lipscomb, Thomas Lenehan, W. Harvey McGuire, 
Rufus Button, and Tom Smith and Aaron Triff, Com¬ 
pany B, Forty-fourth Tennessee. The victory of the 
16th was a splendid one and reflected great honor upon 
General Beauregard and his troops. 

General Meade, in reporting this affair to General 
Grant, said: “Our men are tired, and the attacks have 
not been made with force and vigor. ’ ’ 

On the 17th, at dawn, the battle was renewed by the 
attacks made by Grant’s entire army, which were three 
times repulsed, but a part of our lines was broken and a 
considerable number of Johnson’s brigade was killed or 
captured. Col. A. W. Fulkerson, of the Sixty-third, was 
captured. He was an officer full of intelligence, and his 
loss was seriously felt by the command. Johnson’s 
division maintained in this action the line occupied on 
the 16th, with a skirmish line in the space so bravely 
defended by Lieutenant Kelso. At night, General Beaure¬ 
gard retired a part of his line of defense, but not until he 
had first driven Ledlie’s division from the position it had 
carried. 

General Gilmore, commanding Tenth army corps, who 
had volunteered to capture Petersburg and failed, was 
relieved from command. It is an incident sustaining the 
charge that spurious money was used by the Federal army; 


214 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


that on the ioth, Mr. C. A. Dana, secretary of war, tele¬ 
graphed for $5,000,000 in Confederate money for use of 
General Grant “in a cavalry expedition, on which he pro¬ 
posed to pay for everything taken.” Was the money 
genuine? 

On the 18th, General Meade advanced his forces and 
made a general assault. Mr. Dana telegraphed to Wash¬ 
ington that “Birney with nine brigades had failed; 
Martindale made an attempt to advance and failed; at 7 
p. m., Wilcox of the Ninth corps, and Warren’s corps 
again assaulted, but in vain.” He lost in three days 9,500 
men killed and wounded. Under orders of General Grant 
no more assaults were to be made. 

On the 30th of June, Col. R. H. Keeble, Seven¬ 
teenth and Twenty-third Tennessee, was killed, and 
Col. John S. Fulton, Forty-fourth Tennessee, command¬ 
ing Johnson’s brigade, was mortally wounded. Colonel 
Keeble attracted the attention of his superior officers 
on every field where his regiment was engaged, and 
always won commendation for skill and gallantry. 
He had won promotion in all grades from lieutenant 
to colonel. At Drewry’s Bluff and in the battles 
of the 16th, 17th, 18th and 30th of June, he made his 
name and regiment famous. Colonel Fulton belonged 
to a family of heroes. He fought in the ranks at Shiloh, 
and commanded the Forty-fourth at Perryville, Murfrees¬ 
boro and Chickamauga, where he was noted for soldierly 
bearing; and thenceforward was identified with Bush- 
rod Johnson’s famous brigade and often in command of 
it. He never failed to confer distinction upon his regi¬ 
ment and brigade, and to reflect honor and glory upon 
the State of Tennessee. After the fall of Colonel Fulton, 
Col. John M. Hughs, Twenty-eighth Tennessee, com¬ 
manded the brigade. 

The mine sprung by Burnside’s corps, and the “crater” 
created by the explosion, on the morning of the 30th of 
July, 1864, was in that portion of Bushrod Johnson’s 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


215 


line, 200 yards north of the Baxter road, known as 
Pegram’s salient. “The astonishing effect of the explo¬ 
sion,” said General Johnson, “bursting like a volcano at 
the feet of the men, and the upheaving of an immense 
column of more than 100,000 cubic feet of earth, to fall 
around in heavy masses, wounding, crushing or burying 
everything within its reach,” was the most appalling 
event of the war. Pegram’s battery and the Eighteenth 
and Twenty-second South Carolina lost 278 men killed 
and wounded. But the men on the right and left rallied 
in the face of this great explosion of 8,000 pounds of 
powder, and instead of the capture of the crest in the 
rear of Johnson’s line and the fall of Petersburg, Burn¬ 
side sustained defeat and heavy loss. The disappoint¬ 
ment was so great that a court of inquiry was provided, at 
which Burnside and several of his subordinates were cen¬ 
sured for what General Grant stigmatized as “the miser¬ 
able failure of Saturday.” General Meade admitted a 
loss of 4,400 killed, wounded and captured. Gen. Bush- 
rod Johnson, a very conservative authority, estimated the 
Federal losses at between 5,000 and 6,000. On the 31st, 
General Meade asked for and obtained a cessation of hos¬ 
tilities to enable him to bury the Federal dead in front 
of Johnson’s division. Lieutenant-General Ewell, com¬ 
manding the department of Richmond, reported to the 
secretary of war from Chaffin’s farm that “Johnson’s 
brigade of Tennesseeans are the only troops of field ex¬ 
perience permanently stationed at this point,” for the 
protection of the city from a coup de main. 

After the close of the year, Johnson’s brigade was trans¬ 
ferred to the brigade commanded by Brig.-Gen. William 
McComb of Heth’s division, A. P. Hill’s corps, which 
then included all Tennesseeans in the army of Northern 
Virginia. The regiments were the First, Maj. Felix G. 
Buchanan; the Seventh, Lieut.-Col. Samuel G. Shepard; 
the Fourteenth, Maj. James H. Johnson; the Seventeenth 
and Twenty-third, Col. Horace Ready; the Twenty-fifth 


216 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


and Forty-fourth, Capt. Jonathan E. Spencer, and the 
Sixty-third, Capt. A. A. Blair. After the fall of Lieut. - 
Gen. A. P. Hill on April 2, 1865, his corps was attached to 
Longstreet’s, with which McComb’s brigade, 480 strong, 
was surrendered at Appomattox Court House, on the 9th 
of April, 1865. 

McComb’s brigade was constantly engaged during the 
last months of the war, and sustained many unreported 
losses; in the last battle, on the 2d of April, when Gen¬ 
eral Lee’s lines were broken on the right, the Tennes¬ 
seeans bore an honorable and conspicuous part. In trying 
to reach Heth’s division, which was supporting Pickett on 
the right, that noble gentleman and soldier, A. P. Hill, 
received his death-wound, and with him fell many sons 
of Tennessee who had constituted a part of the Light 
Division from its organization. 

That part of McComb’s brigade which formerly consti¬ 
tuted Hatton’s, afterward Archer’s brigade, had served 
with the army of Northern Virginia from Seven Pines to 
Appomattox. That part of it which formerly constituted 
Bushrod Johnson’s brigade was distinguished in all the 
great battles of the Southwest up to and including Chick - 
amauga, where it won great honor; and from Drewry’s 
Bluff to the 9th of April, 1865, it maintained its great 
reputation. Every battlefield of the South is identified 
with the names of the two brigades, and no history can 
be written that does not accord to them honor and praise 
for enterprise, for powers of endurance, for courage and 
constancy, and for obedience to orders. The survivors 
were few when the end came; their comrades slept wher¬ 
ever brave men had fought and died; to the State of 
Tennessee they will be ever living men of heroic memory. 

.... Never shall the land forget 

How gushed the life-blood of her brave— 

Gushed, warm with hope and courage yet, 

Upon the soil they sought to save. 


CHAPTER XII. 


TENNESSEE CAVALRY — WEST TENNESSEE EXPEDI¬ 
TION — STREIGHT’S RAID — FORREST’S NEW COM¬ 
MAND AT JACKSON—BATTLES OF OKOLONA AND 
YAZOO—WEST TENNESSEE AGAIN—FORT DONEL- 
SON, FORT PILLOW AND OTHER BATTLES—FOR¬ 
REST IN NORTH ALABAMA AND TENNESSEE. 

HE greatest achievements of the cavalry of the 



State were under the leadership of Gen. Nathan 


B B. Forrest. He had rendered conspicuous service 
at Donelson and at Shiloh, but his career fairly began in 
June, 1862, when, from Tupelo, Miss., he was ordered by 
General Beauregard to proceed to north Alabama and 
middle Tennessee and assume command of the cavalry 
of Colonels Scott, Wharton and Adams. Forrest, him¬ 
self, held the rank of colonel. 

On the 9th of July, Forrest, now a brigadier-general, 
left Chattanooga with 1,400 men, including his own regi¬ 
ment under Major Smith; the Eighth Texas, Col. John 
A. Wharton; the Second Georgia, Colonel Lawton, and 
two companies of Kentuckians under Captains Taylor 
and Waltham. He made forced marches to Murfrees¬ 
boro, arriving at 4:30 a. m. of the 13th in front of that 
place, then held by the Ninth Michigan and Third Min¬ 
nesota regiments of infantry, 200 Pennsylvania cavalry, 
100 of the Eighth Kentucky cavalry, and Hewett’s bat¬ 
tery of four guns—1,400 men, commanded by Brig.-Gen. 
Thomas Crittenden. 

The attack was made with characteristic energy and 
continued for several hours, when the entire Federal 
force was surrendered as prisoners of war. Forrest lost 
25 killed and 60 wounded; the Federals, 75 killed and 125 


Tenn 16 


217 


218 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


wounded. Among the Confederates killed was Lieuten¬ 
ant Green of the Tennessee battalion. The fruits of 
the victory were the four-gun battery complete, sixty 
wagons and teams, the cavalry horses, arms, ammunition 
and equipments of the garrison, and a large supply of 
quartermaster and commissary stores. 

After Forrest had leisurely retired with his prisoners 
and captured property to McMinnville, a great hue and 
cry was raised. Troops were hurried to Nashville for 
its defense, others were sent to Readyville, Statesville, 
Wilton, and to a point on the old Franklin road, others 
toward Lebanon, all charged with the same duty—to “cut 
Forrest off.” Under date of July 24th, the famous Gen. 
William Nelson, then at Murfreesboro, informed General 
Buell that he had ordered a battalion of Wolford’s cav¬ 
alry and a battalion of Beard’s to join him. “When they 
do come I will have about 1,200 cavalry, and Mr. Forrest 
shall have no rest. I will hunt him myself.’’ Fortu¬ 
nately for General Nelson, he never found him. 

Forrest rested a few days at McMinnville, then left 
there on the 18th with 700 effective troops and moved on 
Lebanon, Tenn., which he occupied unmolested for two 
days, the Federal forces having hastily retired. On the 
21 st he moved to within a few miles of Nashville, 
destroyed the railroad bridges across Mill creek, skir¬ 
mished with the garrison at Antioch, captured 97 prison¬ 
ers, frightened the garrison at Nashville and retired in 
order. On his return to McMinnville he sent a flag of 
truce to Murfreesboro. But “he could not be found.” 

Gen. Frank C. Armstrong reported from Middleburg, 
Tenn., on the 1st of September, 1862: “Just finished 
whipping the enemy in front of Bolivar. Ran him in town 
and captured 71 prisoners, of whom 4 were commissioned 
officers. Among the Federal dead were two colonels.” 
After this affair, General Armstrong crossed the Hatchie 
river, passed between Jackson and Bolivar, and destroyed 
the bridges and trestles between the two places. On his 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


219 


return toward the village of Denmark he encountered 
two regiments of infantry, two squadrons of cavalry, and 
a section of artillery at Britton’s lane, under command 
of Col. E. S. Dennis of the Thirtieth Illinois. Colonel 
Dennis reports the battle to have been of four hours’ 
duration, and claims that his force numbered 800, that 
he was surrounded by 5,000 Confederates, and in this 
long struggle sustained a loss of 5 killed and 55 wounded. 
General Armstrong’s account was that he captured 
Dennis’ artillery, destroyed a portion of his wagon train, 
and captured 213 prisoners, whom he sent to the rear 
and paroled on the 3d of September. General Armstrong 
had the co-operation of Col. W. H. Jackson, Seventh Ten¬ 
nessee, whose command, he stated, deserved an equal 
share of credit with his own. 

In an expedition to west Tennessee, Forrest crossed 
the Tennessee river on the 15th of December and on the 
18th, at Lexington, Tenn., attacked the enemy, consist¬ 
ing of a section of artillery and 800 cavalry, Col. R. G. 
Ingersoll commanding. The Federals were easily routed, 
with the loss of their 2 guns and 148 prisoners with their 
horses and equipments. The balance of the force fled in 
the wildest disorder in the direction of Jackson and Tren¬ 
ton, Tenn. Among the prisoners was Col. Robert G. 
Ingersoll, the eminent lawyer and agnostic, of the 
Eleventh Illinois cavalry. Col. G. G. Dibrell, Eighth 
Tennessee cavalry, being pushed forward in the direction 
of Jackson, at Webb’s or Carroll Station captured 101 
prisoners, destroyed the railroad for miles, exchanged 100 
of his flint-lock muskets for improved arms, burned the 
stockade, and rejoined Forrest at Spring creek. On the 
20th, Dibrell, with his regiment and one-field gun under 
Capt. John W. Morton, attempted to destroy the stockade 
and bridge across the Forked Deer river, but was repulsed 
by a large infantry force, losing several men killed and 
wounded. 

On the 19th, Forrest, with two companies commanded 


220 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY . 


by Col. T. G. Woodward, Kentucky cavalry, and Col. J. B. 
Biffle’s Nineteenth Tennessee cavalry, with a section of 
Freeman’s battery, drove the Federals, reported at 9,000, 
inside of their fortifications at Jackson, and then moved 
rapidly on Humboldt and Trenton. The gallant Col. J. W. 
Starnes, Fourth Tennessee, was sent against Humboldt, 
where he captured 100 prisoners and destroyed the stock¬ 
ade and railroad bridge. Colonel Biffie was sent to the 
rear of Trenton, while Forrest took Maj. N. N. Cox’s 
Second battalion Tennessee cavalry, his escort company, 
and Freeman’s Tennessee battery, and made a bold dash 
at Trenton, which he captured after a brief engagement, 
taking over 700 prisoners with arms, horses and stores. 
The garrison was composed of the Second Tennessee 
Federal regiment, commanded by Col. Isaac R. Hawkins, 
which a few days earlier had escaped Forrest at Lexing¬ 
ton, and detachments from Ohio, Illinois and other States. 
In this affair the Confederate loss was 2 killed and 7 
wounded. 

Col. A. A. Russell, Fourth Alabama cavalry, who was 
guarding Forrest’s rear pending these operations, skir¬ 
mished for parts of two days with a column of Federal 
infantry 3,000 strong, and finally dismounted half of his 
regiment, moved up, delivered one volley and charged the 
line with his mounted companies. The enemy retreated 
in a panic across Spring creek, burned the bridge in his 
rear, and was not again heard of. 

At Trenton the Eighth Tennessee completed its arma¬ 
ment with improved guns captured from the enemy. On 
the afternoon of the 21st, Forrest moved north, capturing 
at Rutherford’s Station two companies of Federals, among 
them Col. T. G. Kinney, One Hundred and Twenty- 
second Illinois. At Union City 106 Federals were cap¬ 
tured without resistance, and the railroad bridges over 
the north and south forks of the Obion river, with four 
miles of trestle between them, were destroyed. Forrest 
dispatched to General Bragg, “We have made a clean 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


221 


sweep of the Federals north of Jackson. ” To this date 
Forrest lost 22 killed and wounded, and 2 missing, while 
the Federal loss in killed and wounded was over 100, in 
prisoners over 1,200, including 4 colonels, 4 majors, 10 
captains and 23 lieutenants. 

Brigadier-General Sullivan, commanding the Federal 
forces in west Tennessee, telegraphed General Grant 
under date of the 18th, “My cavalry was whipped at 
Lexington to-day.” The next day, after he had been 
driven to his fortifications at Jackson, he telegraphed 
General Grant, “Cheatham’s brigade is on this side 
also, ’ ’ a ridiculous piece of misinformation, given, doubt¬ 
less, as an excuse for his own shortcomings. Cheatham's 
division was with the army of Tennessee. Colonel Inger- 
soll’s report shows that he was poorly supported, had 
untrained troops, and was an easy victim to Forrest. 

The expedition of Forrest to west Tennessee was 
undertaken to create a diversion in favor of our army in 
Mississippi, and was accomplished, said General Bragg, 
in the “most brilliant and decisive” manner. He was 
now under orders to recross the Tennessee river. Leav¬ 
ing Middleburg on the 25th, he moved toward McKenzie, 
Tenn., thence in the direction of Lexington. The 
Federal commander of the department had in the mean¬ 
time concentrated large bodies of troops at various points, 
intending to capture this bold rider who had dared to 
invade a territory now claimed as their own. On the 31st 
Forrest moved from Flake’s store, sixteen miles north of 
Lexington, in the direction of that point, and met the 
advance of the enemy after a march of four miles, at 
Parker's cross-roads. Here he engaged and fought the 
brigade commanded by Col. C. L. Dunham, Fiftieth 
Indiana, composed of two companies of the Eighteenth 
Illinois infantry, the Fiftieth Indiana, the One Hundred 
and Twenty-second Illinois, the Thirty-ninth Iowa and 
three pieces of the Seventh Wisconsin battery, reported 
by Colonel Dunham at 1,554 rank and file. 


222 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


General Forrest, with an inferior force (in numbers), 
reported that he soon found that he could “whip the 
enemy” dismounted. At the same time moving on Dun¬ 
ham’s flank and rear,“we drove them,” he said, “through 
the woods with great slaughter. ” The Federals retreated 
to Parker’s cross-roads after being punished by Free¬ 
man’s battery, and, said Colonel Dibrell in his report, 
“we advanced rapidly at a double-quick and began our 
first regular battle as cavalry. The enemy made three 
efforts to charge us, but the galling fire of our small-arms 
and from a 12-pound howitzer under Sergt. Nat 
Baxter of Freeman’s battery, drove them back. They 
had six pieces of artillery and we but one. The 
battle raged with great fury until I was joined on the 
left by Capt. John W. Morton with one field gun, sup¬ 
ported by Cox and Napier’s battalions and Starnes’ regi¬ 
ment. Forrest moved to the rear with the Nineteenth 
Tennessee (Biffle’s) and Woodward’s Kentucky battalion, 
when the enemy fled in confusion, leaving their dead 
and wounded and six pieces of artillery in our hands. 
We had about 300 prisoners, and while parleying for a 
surrender, General Sullivan came up with another bri¬ 
gade of infantry, attacked our horse-holders before we 
were aware of his approach, opened on our rear, stam 
peded the horse-holders and forced an immediate retreat. ” 
General Forrest lost the guns and all prisoners except 83 
taken from the enemy, with 8 caissons. 

Colonel Dunham admitted the loss of 23 killed, 139 
wounded and 58 captured. Col. E. F. Noyes, command¬ 
ing the Thirty-ninth Ohio regiment of Sullivan’s brigade, 
says, when he reached the field he found Dunham’s bri¬ 
gade “surrounded on three sides by Forrest’s troops. 
Firing had ceased, flags of truce were passing, and a 
part, if not all, of Dunham’s artillery had been captured, 
together with several hundred prisoners.” 

Forrest withdrew in good order, leaving his dead and 
wounded in the hands of the enemy. He had taken the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


223 


precaution to send four companies to Clarksburg, seven 
miles in his rear, to watch for Federal reinforcements, 
but the command failed to discover Sullivan’s approach 
and the first notice of his presence was the opening of his 
guns. Colonel BifHe returned from the rear in time to 
participate in the affair at Parker’s cross-roads; and 
before rejoining Forrest he captured and paroled 150 
Federal prisoners within six miles of Trenton. Forrest 
reported a loss of 60 killed and wounded and 122 captured. 
Among the dead was Col. T. Alonzo Napier, Tenth Ten¬ 
nessee cavalry, who fell while leading his command in a 
charge on foot.- He was a young officer of great promise 
and of indomitable courage and energy. Forrest recrossed 
the Tennessee river without being molested. Col. W. K. 
M. Breckinridge’s regiment of Federal cavalry interposed 
between Colonel Dibrell and the river, but after skir¬ 
mishing a few minutes, said the gallant Dibrell, “we 
charged and routed the regiment, killing and capturing 
fifteen or twenty of them.’’ 

General Sullivan telegraphed that he had “met Forrest 
7,000 strong, and after a contest of four hours completely 
routed him, with great slaughter. ’ ’ Forrest had less than 
one-fifth of the force attributed to him, but the fierceness 
and vigor of his attack caused the Federal commander to 
multiply his numbers many times. 

The attack on Fort Donelson of February 3, 1863, was 
made by Maj.-Gen. Joseph Wheeler, with the brigades of 
Forrest and John A. Wharton. Forrest’s command con¬ 
sisted of detachments from the Fourth Tennessee, Fourth 
Alabama, Cox’s, Napier’s and Holman’s Tennessee bat¬ 
talions, Woodward’s Kentuckians and Morton’s battery, 
in all about 800 men. Wharton’s brigade was about 2,000 
strong; but General Wheeler reports that only about a 
thousand men from both brigades participated in the 
action. The fort was defended gallantly and successfully 
by Col. A. C. Harding, Eighty-third Illinois, with about 
750 men of all arms, fighting under cover. The Confed- 


224 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


erates were dismounted and made several brave assaults, 
when, seeing the enemy retiring, as he supposed, Forrest 
mounted his command and charged through the streets 
of Dover, but was repulsed and forced to retire. 

Forrest, with his aide, Maj. C. W. Anderson, and a 
detachment of his escort, charged up to within thirty 
yards of the enemy’s works, leading his command close 
enough to fire upon the enemy behind his parapets, but 
success could not be won—the men behind the works 
were as valorous as his own. Lieut.-Col. D. W. Holman, 
an officer of great dash and enterprise, was severely 
wounded. Lieutenants Summers and A. S. Chapman 
of Holman’s battalion were killed, and Capts. D. F. 
Alexander, W. J. Hobson and N. J. Robinson of Napier’s 
battalion were badly wounded and captured. Lieutenant- 
Colonel Haines, Fourth Tennessee, was severely wounded 
and permanently disabled. By a strange oversight which 
cannot be explained, Wheeler’s command had no adequate 
supply of ammunition. 

At 8 o'clock p. m. General Wheeler retired and moved 
south of Duck river. He reported a loss of 100 killed 
and wounded, and the capture of 80 prisoners, one field 
gun, a lot of horses and mules, and the destruction of 
a transport loaded with provisions. Colonel Harding 
reported his loss at 13 killed, 51 wounded, 46 captured. 

On the 15th of March, 1863, the forces under Maj.-Gen. 
Earl Van Dorn captured the Federal troops at Thomp¬ 
son’s Station, Col. John Coburn’s brigade, numbering 
1,221, including 73 commissioned officers and many arms. 

The Tennesseeans engaged were the Nineteenth, Col¬ 
onel Biffle; the Tenth, Lieut.-Col. Wm. E. DeMoss; Col. 
j. H. Edmundson’sregiment; the Fourth, J. W. Starnes; 
McCann’s battalion, Maj. Richard McCann, Freeman’s 
battery, Capt. S. L. Freeman, all under Gen. N. B. For¬ 
rest. Other troops under General Van Dorn were the 
division commanded by Brig.-Gen. W. H. Jackson, com¬ 
posed of Brig.-Gen. F. C. Armstrong’s and Col. J. W. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


225 


Whitfield’s brigades, with King’s battery of four guns, 
and General Cosby’s brigade of Martin’s division. 

Colonel Coburn made a determined fight. General 
Van Dorn stated that ‘‘Forrest and Armstrong, and Gen¬ 
eral Jackson with his entire division, charged in the most 
gallant manner upon the enemy on the hill, from which 
they had previously repulsed the Texas brigade. After 
a fierce struggle for the crest of the hill, our troops were 
driven down it, and with considerable loss. ’ ’ In the mean 
time, “Forrest with two regiments, the Nineteenth and 
Tenth Tennessee, had now gained the enemy’s rear and 
charged them, when, after firing a few volleys, they threw 
down their arms and surrendered.” “In the final charge 
by General Forrest, deciding the fate of the day, Lieut. - 
Col. E. B. Trezevant, Tenth Tennessee, Capt. Montgom¬ 
ery Little of Forrest’s escort, and Capt. A. A. Dysart, 
Fourth Tennessee, were mortally wounded. ’ ’ 

Van Dorn lost 357 killed, wounded and missing. Gen¬ 
eral Forrest reported that when the men saw the gallant 
Trezevant and Little fall, they “raised a shout and pushed 
the charge to within twenty feet of the Federal line of 
battle.” The colors of the Nineteenth Michigan were 
captured by Capt. J. M. Reynolds, Nineteenth Tennessee. 
Lieut. J. R. Johnson, Nineteenth Tennessee, was killed 
bearing the colors of his regiment. Upon his fall, Clay 
Kendrick, one of the color-guard, seized the colors, and 
when his right arm was shattered by a musket ball, he 
was seen to transfer the flag to his left hand and bravely 
carry it until the surrender. 

From his headquarters at Tullahoma, March 27, 1863, 
General Bragg telegraphed the war office at Richmond: 
“Forrest made a successful attack on Brentwood with his 
division, burned the bridge, destroyed and took all prop¬ 
erty and arms, and captured 800 prisoners, including 35 
officers. ’ ’ 

General Forrest reported that “a flag of truce was sent 
in, demanding an immediate and unconditional surrender. 

Tenn 17 


226 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


The colonel commanding replied that we must come and 
take him.” These were heroic words without meaning. 
Major De Moss, Tenth Tennessee, drove the enemy within 
his works, and Forrest’s escort was in the act of charging 
when he raised a white flag and surrendered. Brig. -Gen. 
Robert B. Mitchell, reporting to General Rosecrans, 
said the affair “was a very disgraceful one for the 
commanding officer of our forces, Lieutenant-Colonel 
Bloodgood, Twenty-second Wisconsin. With a position 
easily reached from his encampment he could have held 
the enemy at bay until the arrival of reinforcements; but 
with a loss of one man killed and four wounded, he seems 
to have surrendered without an effort to change position, 
or to make a resistance worthy of the name of fight. ’ ’ The 
troops captured at Brentwood were the same who had 
deserted Colonel Coburn at Thompson’s Station. 

After the surrender, Forrest detached Colonel Lewis, 
First Tennessee, to make a demonstration on Nashville, 
and he made important captures and returned safely to 
headquarters. General Forrest, with the Tenth Tennes¬ 
see and one gun of Freeman’s battery, dashed down the 
road toward Franklin and demanded the surrender of the 
garrison occupying the stockade provided as a defense of 
the railroad bridge. To Maj. C. W. Anderson, of his 
staff, the surrender was refused, but one shot from Free¬ 
man’s gun brought out a white flag and the surrender of 
230 prisoners. 

On the 9th of April, Forrest’s command encountered the 
Federal forces under General Stanley. The Fourth United 
States cavalry charged and captured Freeman’s battery 
and thirty men, but Colonel Starnes, Fourth Tennessee, 
dismounted the Nineteenth Tennessee and made a coun¬ 
ter attack, recapturing the guns of Freeman’s battery 
and some of the men. The gallant Freeman was left in 
the enemy’s hands. As his captors were retiring from 
the field, they ordered him to break into a run to prevent 
his recapture, and as he was unable to do this, an officer 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


227 


rode up and shot him through the head. General Forrest 
is authority for this statement. The history of the war 
does not show an act of greater infamy. No murder by 
poison, or lying in wait, was ever attended by circum¬ 
stances of greater atrocity—an unarmed man, a prisoner 
of war, assassinated by an officer! Captain McIntyre, com¬ 
manding the Fourth regulars, reported that he recrossed 
the river, “bringing with me a captain, one second lieu¬ 
tenant and 34 prisoners.” 

On the 8th of April, 1863, General Rosecrans notified 
Col. A. D. Streight, Fifty-first Indiana volunteers, that 
he had been assigned to the command of an independent 
provisional brigade, including his own and the Seventy- 
third Indiana, Eightieth Illinois, Third Ohio, and two 
companies of the First Middle Tennessee cavalry raised 
in north Alabama, with orders to proceed south and cut 
the railroad south of Dalton, Ga., so as to prevent troops 
being sent by that route to the army of Tennessee. 
Streight was supplied with a pack-train of commissary 
stores and ammunition, and his command, 1,700 strong, 
was mounted generally from horses and mules taken from 
citizens. 

After elaborate preparation, Streight moved out from 
Moulton, Ala., on the night of the 28th of April. The 
next day he marched to Day’s gap, 35 miles, and 
found himself in the midst of “devoted Union people,” 
with no foe to molest him. But very soon an unexpected 
enemy attacked his rear guard and the “boom of artillery 
was heard. ” “I soon learned, ” he said, “that the enemy 
had moved through the gaps on my right and left. ’ ’ For¬ 
rest was upon him. At Driver’s gap, of Sand mountain, 
he fought the Federals day and night, with two regi¬ 
ments, with a loss of 5 killed and 50 wounded. Streight 
left on the field 50 killed and 150 wounded, burned his 
wagons, and turned loose 250 mules and 150 negroes. 

On the 3d of May, between Gadsden and Rome, 
after five days and nights of fighting and marching, Gen- 


228 


CONFEDERA TE MI LIT A R V MIS TOR Y. 


eral Forrest captured Streight’s entire command with 
arms and horses. The Federal commander handled 
his command with skill and judgment, and fought it 
bravely. Forrest was fruitful of resource, and every 
action abounded with daring and enterprise. He 
seemed insensible to fatigue or to hunger, and his 
example encouraged his men to steadiness and con¬ 
stancy. The result of his expedition was an inspira¬ 
tion to the army and the country. To his own escort 
company, to the Fourth Tennessee under the gallant 
Maj. W. S. McLemore, to the always reliable Colonel 
Biffie, Nineteenth Tennessee, and to Morton’s battery, 
the honor belongs for the final triumph; but to his own 
personal prowess and wise leadership, with one acclaim 
the country accorded the glory. 

Forrest entered west Tennessee on the 4th of Decem¬ 
ber, 1863, and arrived at Bolivar on the 5th. He took 
with him McDonald’s battalion and a section of Morton’s 
battery, numbering 250 trained soldiers, and was joined 
en route by Richardson’s partisans, increasing his com¬ 
mand to 500. He established his headquarters at Jackson, 
and began the organization of the troops gathered together 
at different points with such success that when he retired 
from west Tennessee on the 27th, he reported to Presi¬ 
dent Davis that he had 3,000 new troops. In this com¬ 
munication he stated “that the difficulties attending 
organizing regiments by consolidating the odds and ends 
of proper commands into full regiments” were very great. 
That division of the State was crowded with young men 
ambitious for command, and it required address and firm¬ 
ness on the part of General Forrest to consolidate the 
several detachments, and to secure efficient regimental 
organizations. General Hurlbut, commanding the Federal 
forces of the district, numbering about 20,000 men of all 
arms, sought to encompass Forrest and destroy him, and 
was vigilant and energetic in his efforts, but Forrest was 
equally so. He had successful combats at Jack’s creek, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


229 


Estanaula, Somerville, Lafayette and Collierville, eluded 
his pursuers and took out this large force of unarmed 
men, well mounted, with a wagon train loaded with sup¬ 
plies, and a good stock of beef cattle and hogs. 

Brig.-Gen. W. Sooy Smith, commanding the Federal 
cavalry forces of the department of Tennessee, numbering 
7,000, which General Sherman stated was “superior and 
better in all respects than the combined cavalry which 
the enemy has in all the State of Mississippi,’’ was ordered 
to move on Pontotoc and Okolona, Miss., thence down 
the Mobile & Ohio railroad, destroying it and all resources 
of the Confederates, and join Sherman at Meridian 
on February io, 1864. General Smith reported to 
General Grant that he reached West Point on the 21st, 
but could not force his way through to Sherman. He 
stated that he fought the Confederates “at four points 
severely and skirmished with them, as we retired, for 
sixty miles. We had the best of them at all points except 
Okolona, where our loss was very severe, including a bat¬ 
tery of small howitzers.’’ The Confederates, he stated, 
“pitched into us (at Okolona) and gave us a pretty rough 
handling, inflicting upon us a loss of perhaps 300 or 400 
men killed, wounded and missing. ’ ’ 

General Forrest reported that his brigade, commanded 
by Col. Jeffrey Forrest, successfully disputed Smith’s 
crossing of the Sakatonchee creek, forced him to retire 
toward West Point, and drove him from that place to 
within ten miles of Pontotoc, in two days. Forrest pursued 
the retiring enemy with his escort, a section of Morton’s 
battery, a detachment of Faulkner’s regiment, and a regi¬ 
ment from McCulloch’s brigade, and never gave them 
rest until the Federal forces reached Okolona, where For¬ 
rest charged the enemy with Bell’s brigade under Colonel 
Barteau, and forced him from the field in great confusion 
and with heavy loss. It was here that General Smith con¬ 
fessed to a “rough handling.’’ 

Five miles out from Okolona, General Smith reformed 


230 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


and awaited the Confederate attack, soon made by 
McCulloch’s and Forrest’s brigades and Hoole’s battery. 
General Forrest stated that “after a short but obstinate 
resistance the enemy gave way.’’ After the Federal 
forces reached the hills between Okolona and Pontotoc, 
the Second Tennessee, Colonel Barteau, and the Seventh 
Tennessee, Lieut.-Col. W. F. Taylor, Colonel Duckworth 
commanding brigade, received the repeated charges of 
seven Federal regiments in open ground, drove them back 
time after time, and finally forced them from the field, 
capturing three stand of colors and one piece of artillery. 
After this, for want of ammunition, General Forrest 
abandoned the pursuit. 

In the combat at Okolona, Col. Jeff. E. Forrest, com¬ 
manding brigade, fell in the gallant discharge of his duty. 
By his side, and almost at the same moment, fell George M. 
Porter, a youthful Tennessee soldier who had seen only 
a few days’ service. In the pursuit of Smith, Forrest lost 
144 men killed, wounded and missing, whose names are 
not reported. Colonel Barteau, commanding Bell’s bri¬ 
gade, was wounded, and the command devolved on the 
gallant Col. R. M. Russell. Colonel Duckworth com¬ 
manded Forrest’s brigade after the fall of Colonel 
Forrest. 

Maj.-Gen. Stephen D. Lee, reporting the operations of 
his command in this period, stated that on March 5th, 
Brig.-Gen. R. V. Richardson of Forrest’s cavalry, com¬ 
manding Tennessee brigade, 550 strong, and Brig.-Gen. 
L. S. Ross of Jackson’s division, attacked Yazoo City, 
drove the enemy from all the redoubts except one and 
took possession of the city, capturing many stores and a 
few prisoners. The enemy having concentrated in the 
strongest redoubt, it was not considered prudent to assault 
it, as it was surrounded by a ditch and defended by 400 
infantry. This, said General Lee, was a gallant affair, 
and caused the enemy to withdraw from the Yazoo river. 

In this affair Col. J. J. Neely, commanding the Four- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


231 


teenth Tennessee, and Col. Thomas H. Logwood, Fif¬ 
teenth Tennessee, rendered conspicuous and valuable serv¬ 
ice. Maj. J. G. Thurmand, Fourteenth Tennessee, fell 
dead at the head of his regiment. His brigade commander 
named him as ‘ ‘ one of the bravest of brave men. ’ ’ General 
Ross reported that ‘ ‘ the fighting was very desperate. The 
hardest and hottest part of the engagement was made by 
the Fourteenth Tennessee, under Major Thurmand, in 
driving the enemy and the gunboats from town. ’ ’ The 
Confederates lost about 60 killed and wounded, among 
the latter, Captain Thrall of the artillery. 

Another expedition into west Tennessee was inaug¬ 
urated on the 9th of March, 1864, by an order to the Sev¬ 
enth Tennessee, Colonel Duckworth, and to McDonald’s 
battalion, Colonel Crews, to prepare rations and ammuni¬ 
tion for a movement in the direction of Corinth. A few 
days thereafter General Forrest advanced with a division 
commanded by Brig.-Gen. A. Buford. The Third Ken¬ 
tucky, Lieutenant-Colonel Holt; the Seventh Kentucky, 
Colonel Crossland; the Eighth, Colonel Lyon; Faulkner’s 
Kentucky regiment, Colonel Faulkner, and Wisdom’s 
Tennessee regiment, Lieut.-Col. D. M. Wisdom, consti¬ 
tuted the Third brigade, Col. A. P. Thompson command¬ 
ing. Col. T. H. Bell commanded the Fourth brigade, 
composed of the Second Tennessee, Col. C. R. Barteau; 
Sixteenth, Col. A. N. Wilson, and Russell’s Tennessee 
regiment, Col. R. M. Russell. The division was 2,800 
strong. The Second brigade of Chalmers’ division, com¬ 
manded by Colonel Duckworth, composed of the Seventh 
Tennessee, Lieut.-Col. W. F. Taylor; the Twelfth Ten¬ 
nessee, Col. John U. Green; the Thirteenth Tennessee, 
Col. J. J. Neely; the Fourteenth Tennessee, Col. F. M. 
Stewart; was ordered to form a part of the expedition. 

At this time, west Tennessee was dominated by certain 
Federal troops, notably the Sixth regiment United States 
cavalry, recruited in Tennessee and elsewhere and com¬ 
manded by Col. Fielding Hurst. It was disputed ter- 


232 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ritory, but when a Confederate soldier was captured, no 
regard was paid to the usages of civilized warfare. The 
captive was shot and mutilated in the most barbarous 
and inhuman manner, no trial by court-martial was per¬ 
mitted, no respect was paid to age or calling, and no 
mercy was accorded to prisoners. 

Lieut.-Col. W. M. Reed, an eminent minister of the 
gospel (who fell in the gallant discharge of his duty in 
the assault on Fort Pillow), after a careful investigation, 
submitted a report to General Forrest (see page 118, 
Vol. XXXII, Part 3, Official Records of the War), in 
which he recited a series of atrocities that should have 
brought their authors to the gallows. 

General Forrest enclosed the report to Major-Gen¬ 
eral Hurlbut at Memphis, commanding the district of 
West Tennessee, and asked for the surrender of Hurst 
for trial. This demand was refused, and thereupon For¬ 
rest issued an order declaring Hurst and his officers out¬ 
laws. For private gain he had extorted over $5,000 from 
the citizens of Jackson, Tenn., under a threat of burning 
the town. He was, said the order, “guilty of house burn¬ 
ing, guilty of murder of both citizens and soldiers of the 
Confederate States. ’ ’ The victims were comrades, or 
kinsmen and friends of Forrest’s cavalry, and yet with a 
full knowledge of these gross outrages, no Federal pris¬ 
oner (and hundreds were captured) received other than 
humane treatment. General Hurlbut was relieved from 
command on the 16th of April, not because he tolerated 
Hurst and his kind, but, said General Sherman, “You 
are relieved because there has been marked timidity in 
the management of affairs since Forrest passed north of 
Memphis.’’ Brutality to citizens and barbarity to pris¬ 
oners called forth no protest; “timidity’’ in the face of 
danger was the only sin. 

On the 29th of March, Colonel Neely, Thirteenth Ten¬ 
nessee, engaged Hurst near Bolivar, capturing his entire 
wagon train, routing and driving him on the wings of the 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


233 


wind to Memphis and killing 30 and capturing 35 
prisoners, who received honorable treatment. This 
gallant officer pursued to the vicinity of Memphis, and suc¬ 
ceeded in holding Hurlbut at Memphis (with an army at 
his command) until Forrest covered west Tennessee 
and southern Kentucky, and assaulted and captured the 
Federal forces wherever located. On the 2 2d of March, 
Forrest was at Trenton. On the following day he de¬ 
tached the Seventh Tennessee, McDonald’s battalion and 
Faulkner’s Kentucky regiment, and ordered Duckworth 
(in command) to assault and capture Union City. The 
commander there, Colonel Hawkins, Second (Federal) 
Tennessee regiment, who in December, 1862, had been 
captured at Trenton, after some parleying and skirmish¬ 
ing, surrendered to Duckworth, with 475 men and 
their arms, ammunition and horses. In the skirmish pre¬ 
liminary to the surrender, Lieut. -Col. W. D. Lannom of 
Faulkner’s regiment was severely wounded. Lannom 
had served at Shiloh as lieutenant-colonel of the Seventh 
Kentucky. He survived the war and fell a victim to a 
private quarrel. 

Three days later, Forrest was in front of Paducah. 
Colonel Thompson, anxious for his own home and friends, 
made a gallant attack on Fort Anderson, a well-protected 
earthwork invincible to a cavalry attack, and lost his life. 
A serious attack on this fort was not contemplated, and 
the fall of the gallant and lamented Thompson made it 
a grave disaster. Forrest took possession of the city of 
Paducah, and after holding it for nine hours, retired with 
prisoners, 400 horses and mules, and a large supply of 
quartermaster and commissary stores. 

Fort Pillow was invested April 11 and 12, 1864. It was 
garrisoned by about 550 troops, black and white, under 
the command of Major Booth of the Federal army. 
Major Booth fell early in the action by a shot from a sharp¬ 
shooter, and the command was then assumed by Major 
Bradford, of the Thirteenth Tennessee (Federal) cavalry. 

Tenn 18 


234 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY . 


The investing force was composed of Bell’s brigade of 
Buford’s division, and McCulloch’s brigade of Chalmers’ 
division, both commanded by Brig.-Gen. James R. Chal¬ 
mers. Under date of the 28th of June, General Forrest 
said in an address to his command, “In the face of a 
murderous fire from two gunboats and six pieces of artil¬ 
lery on the fort, you stormed the works and either killed 
or captured the entire garrison. " 

On the 12th of April, after Chalmers had driven the 
Federals inside the fort and had established his sharp¬ 
shooters in the buildings in front, with a close invest¬ 
ment of the fort by a superior force, Forrest arrived on 
the field and immediately demanded the surrender of the 
garrison, assuring the commanding officer that the Fed¬ 
eral forces would be treated as prisoners of war. This 
demand was refused. The assault was ordered, and in 
a few minutes the fort was carried. When it became 
apparent that they could not maintain a successful de¬ 
fense, the garrison, with arms in their hands, sought 
safety on a Federal gunboat lying in the Mississippi river. 
In their effort to reach it, as they ran the gauntlet of 
McCulloch’s and Bell’s brigades, many.were killed and 
wounded. The commander of the gunboat, anxious for 
his own safety, pushed off and left the men of the gar¬ 
rison to their fate. The flag over the fort was not low¬ 
ered, and the resistance continued in a desultory way 
until nearly half of the garrison were killed or wounded. 
Forrest captured 7 officers and 219 enlisted men, with 
the garrison equipage, arms and ammunition, and 
returned to his headquarters at Jackson, where he found 
orders to proceed to Mississippi to meet a movement of 
the enemy. 

At Tishomingo creek, or Brice’s cross-roads, Forrest 
won a notable victory over the Federal forces com¬ 
manded by General Sturgis. Maj.-Gen. C. C. Washburn 
of the United States army, commanding the district of 
West Tennessee, fitted out an expedition under orders 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


235 


from Major-General McPherson to engage General For¬ 
rest and, if possible, whip and disperse his forces; also 
to destroy the Mobile & Ohio railroad, which had been 
placed in complete running order from Corinth to Mobile. 
General Washburn reported under date of July 20, 1864, 
that the forces moved out on the 1st of June under the 
command of Brig.-Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis, consisting of 
3,300 cavalry under Brig.-Gen. B. H. Grierson, 5,000 
infantry under Colonel McMillen, Ninety-fifth Ohio, and 
16 pieces of artillery. General Washburn stated that' ‘ the 
force sent out was in complete order and consisted of 
some of our best troops.” The expedition was provided 
with eighteen days’ rations, the “supply train consisted of 
181 wagons, which, with the regimental wagons, made up a 
train of 250.” The troops left the railroad on the 2d of 
June and reached Brice’s cross-roads, a distance of 60 
miles, on the 10th; but the return trip was made in one 
day and two nights. 

General Forrest met and fought Sturgis with his entire 
available force, numbering 3,500 officers and men of all 
arms. In the early morning of the 10th, the Confederate 
commander, reaching Brice’s cross-roads, formed the 
commands of Colonels Lyon, Rucker and Johnson, and 
attacked Grierson’s cavalry, driving it back for some dis¬ 
tance. A hot skirmish with the enemy was maintained 
until 1 o’clock, when Brigadier-General Buford arrived 
with the artillery, followed by Bell’s brigade. Forrest 
at once advanced his line of battle, leading Russell and 
Wilson of Bell’s brigade, with Duff’s regiment of 
Rucker’s brigade, and Newsom on the left. The artillery 
opened with great spirit, the engagement became general, 
and, said General Forrest, “on the left raged with great 
fury.” At this time the Federal cavalry was alone 
engaged. At 1130 the infantry began to arrive. Grierson’s 
cavalry was already whipped. Colonel Winslow, Fourth 
Iowa cavalry, commanding brigade, General Sturgis 
reported, was “especially clamorous to be relieved, and 


236 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


permitted to carry his brigade to the rear. ” Finding, he 
said, that his troops were being hotly pressed, he ordered 
a section of artillery to open on the Confederates, but 
their “artillery soon replied, and with great accuracy, 
every shell bursting over and in the immediate vicinity 
of our guns.” These shells were from Morton’s battery, 
whose terrible execution, in close proximity to the Fed¬ 
eral line, caused “frequent calls for reinforcements” and 
great confusion in Grierson’s ranks. “Order, ” said Sturgis, 
“gave way to confusion, and confusion to panic.” 
Without the knowledge of the Federal general, the cav¬ 
alry had been withdrawn from his left, and he was forced 
to occupy the abandoned line with his escort company 
of ioo men of the Nineteenth Pennsylvania cavalry, under 
the gallant Lieutenant-Colonel Hess, until the arrival of 
the infantry. 

Upon the arrival of the infantry, General Grierson 
requested authority to withdraw his entire division of cav¬ 
alry, upon the plea that “it was exhausted and well-nigh 
out of ammunition.” Grierson’s force was 3,500 strong. 
In Waring’s brigade his loss was 22 killed and 51 wounded; 
in Winslow’s brigade, 12 men killed and 52 wounded. A 
battle was lost and the field abandoned in panic and wild 
disorder, with a loss almost too insignificant to be 
reported Winslow sustained other serious losses—189 car¬ 
bines, 68 pistols, 121 sabers, 68,450 rounds of ammuni¬ 
tion, 2 field guns and caissons, and 228 horses, aban¬ 
doned in a mere panic close of kin to cowardice. 

Forrest had now fought a distinct battle with the Fed¬ 
eral cavalry and driven it from the field. The Federal 
infantry occupied the line so ingloriously abandoned, 
but the impetuosity of the Confederates received no 
check, and the strong line soon began to yield and 
reform in a new position. Morton pushed his guns almost 
in their faces, Bell’s brigade assaulted at the distance of 30 
paces, the gallant Barteau with his Second regiment of 
Tennesseeans gained the rear of the enemy, Buford, with 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


237 


Lyon and Johnson and Rucker, all rushed to the attack, 
while Faulkner’s Kentucky regiment, commanded by 
Major Tate of Tennessee, and the Seventh Tennessee, 
Colonel Duckworth, charged the line mounted. “At last, ’ ’ 
said General Sturgis, “overpowered and exhausted, the 
roads became crowded and jammed with Federal troops. 
No power could now check or control the panic- 
stricken mass as it swept toward the rear, led off by Col¬ 
onel Winslow at the head of his brigade of cavalry, who 
never halted until he had reached Stubb’s plantation, ten 
miles in the rear. ” 

Grierson, with a humor akin to that of the late Arte- 
mus Ward, in an address dated June 16, 1864, to the 
officers and soldiers of his cavalry division, said: “Your 
general congratulates you upon your noble conduct during 
the expedition under General Sturgis. Fighting against 
overwhelming numbers for hours on foot, you repulsed 
the charges of the enemy’s infantry and turned his 
assaults into confusion. ’ ’ 

Tishomingo creek was one of the best fought battles 
during the war between the States, and the most complete 
victory. Forrest’s tactics were perfect. He held Sturgis’ 
well-appointed cavalry, 3,500 strong, with a skirmish line 
until he could concentrate his troops; then he forced the 
fighting and routed Grierson in time to attack and crush 
5,000 infantry, regiment by regiment, as they came into 
action. The fruits of the victory were the capture of 1,618 
prisoners, of which number 15 o were commissioned officers; 
the entire supply train of the enemy, numbering 168 unin¬ 
jured wagons; 16 pieces of artillery, with the caissons and 
limber, harness and fixtures, and a full supply of ammu¬ 
nition; 300,000 rounds of ammunition for small-arms, 
and 3,000 muskets and carbines abandoned by the flying 
enemy. General Sturgis reported a loss of 215 killed, 
379 wounded. The Confederates lost 492 killed and 
wounded, of whom 96 were killed. Among the latter 
were Capt. John Bell, of the staff of Bell’s brigade; Capt. 


238 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


J. R. Hibbitt, Fifteenth Tennessee; Lieuts. J. Robert 
Arnold and J. P. Revely, Sixteenth Tennessee; Lieut. 
E. P. Hooper, Nineteenth Tennessee. Among those 
mortally wounded was Cadet William H. Porter, of the 
regular a. my of the Confederate States, on staff duty with 
Bell’s brigade. This young and gallant officer had his 
own horse killed under him, when, instantly mounting 
the horse from which his comrade, Capt. John Bell, had 
just fallen, in another moment he received a shot, from 
which he died in forty-eight hours. No official reports of 
this battle were made by division, brigade or regimental 
commanders, hence justice cannot be done to many noble 
men. General Forrest, in an address to his command 
dated June 28th, referred to Tishomingo Creek as “the 
crowning glory of your great deeds. Victory was never 
more glorious, disaster never more crushing and signal.” 

Another expedition was organized to “whip Forrest,’’ 
and prevent him from moving on Sherman’s communi¬ 
cations. Maj.-Gen. Andrew J. Smith, who commanded 
it, left LaGrange, Tenn., on the 5th of July, 1864, with 
the First division, Sixteenth army corps, Brigadier-Gen¬ 
eral Mower; Third division, Sixteenth army corps, Col¬ 
onel Moore; Grierson’s cavalry division, Brigadier-General 
Grierson; First brigade United States colored troops, 
Colonel Bouton, and 24 pieces of artillery; the aggregate 
of which, as reported by General Smith, was 14,000 men. 
Maj. -Gen. Stephen D. Lee, commanding the Confederate 
cavalry, Forrest second in command, gave battle at Harris¬ 
burg, Miss., on the Mobile & Ohio railroad, near Tupelo, 
on the 14th of July, with 9,100 men and 20 field pieces. 
Deducting every fourth man as a horse-holder, and small 
detachments not present, there were not 8,000 Confeder¬ 
ates in action. Chalmers’ division consisted of McCul¬ 
loch’s and Rucker’s brigades; Buford’s division, of Bell’s 
Tennessee brigade, Lyon’s Kentucky brigade, commanded 
b3^ Col. Ed. Crossland, and Mabry’s Mississippi brigade; 
Roddey’s division, of the brigades of Colonels Patterson 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 239 

and Johnson. Colonel Lyon was detached from his own 
brigade and placed in command of Col. J. J. Neely’s 
Tennessee brigade, Gholson’s Mississippi brigade, and 
Beltzhoover’s battalion. 

On the 12th, Lyon skirmished with the enemy near 
Pontotoc, and Barteau, with the Second Tennessee, hung 
upon his rear. Colonel Duff, with part of Rucker’s bri¬ 
gade, forced the Federal advance back upon the main 
body. McCulloch, too, assailed the advance near Hous¬ 
ton and drove it back. The Federal general seemed 
doubtful as to his movements until the 13th, when he 
boldly turned toward Tupelo as his objective point. 
Forrest in person, now in the rear, attacked and skir¬ 
mished with the Federal rear-guard, while General Lee 
moved forward with Buford’s and Chalmers’ divisions 
on the right. 

When within six miles of Tupelo, Chalmers, under 
orders from General Lee, fiercely assailed Smith’s col¬ 
umn with Rucker’s brigade. “We took him by surprise, 
and got possession of his train at first, and killed the 
mules, so that he was forced to abandon and burn seven 
wagons, one caisson and two ambulances; but his in¬ 
fantry rallied, and by superior numbers forced us to 
retire.’’ Late in the afternoon of the 13th, General 
Buford, under the orders of General Lee, with Bell’s bri¬ 
gade and a section of Morton’s battery, attacked the 
enemy on his right flank during the march. “At no time, 
Buford reported, “had I found the enemy unprepared. 
He marched with his column well closed up, his wagon 
train well protected, and his flanks covered in an admir¬ 
able manner, evincing at all times a readiness to resent 
an attack and showing careful generalship. After fight¬ 
ing him about an hour, suffering considerable loss, I was 
compelled to withdraw the brigade from action. The 
enemy formed his line at Harrisburg, where he had a 
strong natural position, and during the night threw up a 
line of fortifications and awaited an attack from us.’’ 


240 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


At 7 a. m. of the 14th, General Lee ordered his forces 
forward to the attack. General Forrest reported the posi¬ 
tion “almost impregnable,” and when General Buford 
received his order to advance, he “modestly expressed 
the opinion that the attack should not be a direct one, 
that a direct charge was what the enemy most desired, 
and for which he was strongly posted, both by nature and 
art.” Victory was scarcely possible, as the troops fought 
by fragments, so that brigades were worsted or sadly 
cut to pieces in detail. 

In the battle of the 14th, Roddey’s division was placed 
on the right, Mabry’s brigade on the left, Crossland’s in 
the center, supported by Bell; Chalmers’ and Lyon’s 
divisions were held in reserve. According to Forrest’s 
report, General Lee gave the order to advance and 
directed him to swing the right around upon the enemy’s 
left. Repairing to the right and reaching the front, he 
found that Crossland’s brigade had been rashly precipi¬ 
tated forward and was retiring under a “murderous fire.” 
At this point the Federals were strong in numbers, “in 
an impregnable position.” A new line was formed and 
occupied by Roddey and Crossland, and the battle was 

closed so far as they were concerned. Meantime Bell, 

\ 

Rucker and Mabry were steadily advancing, driving in 
the Federal skirmishers; but when these troops gained a 
position within sixty yards of the main line of defense, 
they were in turn driven back with considerable slaugh¬ 
ter. McCulloch moved up and covered their retreat, but 
the object of the expedition led by General Smith had 
been accomplished. He had won a victory, compelling 
the Confederates to fall back to a strong position where 
they could repulse an attack. 

The Federal general withdrew from his line of fortifica¬ 
tions about noon of the 15th and commenced his return, 
the unconquered Forrest following. At Old Town creek 
he found Chalmers and Buford hotly engaged. The posi¬ 
tion of the Federal rear guard was forced by Bell and 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


241 


Crossland's brigades, but in the outset Forrest was pain¬ 
fully wounded, and he relinquished the command to Gen¬ 
eral Chalmers. Chalmers reported that on assuming com¬ 
mand he “found our men falling back and the enemy 
pressing up to the position on which I had left my bri¬ 
gade.’’ He continued the pursuit for two days, but 
without result. 

Forrest’s regiment, commanded by Col. D. C. Kelley, 
was conspicuous in the combat at Old Town creek. 
The prestige of the regiment given to it by its original 
commander, General Forrest, was maintained under 
Kelley on every field. The church gave Colonel Kelley 
to the regiment, and after four years of splendid serv¬ 
ice as a soldier, he returned to the work of his earlier 
years, where his great talents and noble character have 
acquired for him an unbounded influence for good. 

The Federal losses at Harrisburg amounted to 77 
killed, 529 wounded. Chalmers’ division lost 57 killed, 
255 wounded; Buford’s division, 996 killed, wounded and 
captured; the killed, 153, and the wounded, 794, being 
equally divided between Bell’s, Mabry’s and Crossland’s 
brigades. The Seventh Tennessee mourned the loss of 
Captains Statler and Charlie Claiborne; the Second, of 
Capt. J. M. Eastes, Lieuts. J. E. Dunning, A. H. French 
and A.W. Lipscomb. The Fifteenth lost Capt. J. M. Fields 
and Lieut. T. Hawkins; the Sixteenth, Lieut. S. C. Ken¬ 
nedy and Ensign Thomas Paine; the Nineteenth, Capt. 
W. D. Stratton, Lieuts. W. T. Hallis and J. P. Meeks. 
In Morton’s battery, Lieut. Joseph H. Mayson, Sergt. 
John H. Dunlap and Corporal Bellanfant were wounded, 
and within a few minutes five of the seven cannoneers 
of Sergeant Brown’s piece were seriously wounded. 
Other gallant men should be mentioned, but official 
reports of casualties are meager. 

The Federal garrison at Memphis was attacked by 
General Forrest at 4 a. m. of the 21st of August, 1864, 
and by his quick and bold assault he captured 400 pris- 

Tenn, 19 


242 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


oners and 300 horses and mules. Major-General Wash¬ 
burn, the Federal department commander, escaped in his 
night clothes. To make this daring raid, Forrest left the 
immediate front of Maj.-Gen. A. J. Smith at Oxford, 
Miss., who had with him a force of 4,800 cavalry and a 
large body of infantry and artillery. The troops accom¬ 
panying Forrest were the company commanded by Capt. 
W. H. Forrest; Col. J. J. Neely’s Tennessee regiment; 
the Second Missouri; the Fourteenth Tennessee, Colonel 
White; the Eighteenth Mississippi; the Twelfth and 
Fifteenth Tennessee, Lieutenant-Colonel Logwood and 
Lieut.-Col. Jesse Forrest; Bell’s Tennessee brigade, with a 
section of Morton’s battery, Lieutenant Sale in reserve, 
and not engaged in the city proper. This considerable 
force was withdrawn from the front of Smith without 
arousing a suspicion on the part of the Federal com¬ 
mander, for the purpose of diverting Smith’s column 
from an advance south of Oxford, the Confederate com¬ 
mander being sensible of the inability of his small com¬ 
mand to give battle successfully. 

General Washburn, in his official report, remarks that 
the fact “that Forrest should have left our immediate 
front at Oxford and made this move on Memphis with¬ 
out its being discovered by our large cavalry force in his 
immediate vicinity, is somewhat strange. ’ ’ After this 
censure of his subordinate, he was careful to report that 
“the impression generally prevailing that Memphis is a 
fortified city is far from correct;’’ but he now ordered 
the immediate construction of earthworks for defense 
against future attacks. All parts of the city were taken 
and occupied by the Confederates to the confusion and 
dismay especially of Major-General Washburn. Lieut.- 
Col. W. H. Thurston, inspector-general, Sixteenth corps, 
reported that General Forrest entered Memphis with 400 
men under Lieutenant-Colonel Logwood and Lieut.-Col. 
Jesse Forrest. When Washburn was notified of the tak¬ 
ing of the city, “he left his residence as early as possible 
and made his way to Fort Pickering, without having 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


243 


given any command as to what should be done by our 
troops.” Fear of Forrest and his troopers was dominant 
with Washburn and his forces. Colonel Thurston added 
that two days later ‘‘the whole town was stampeded at 
about io a. m. by a report that Forrest had returned in 
force and was again in town. It was the most disgrace¬ 
ful affair I have ever seen.” At that date Forrest was 
ioo miles distant. General Washburn had under his com¬ 
mand at Memphis over 5,000 troops, besides the garrison 
at Fort Pickering. He admitted a loss of 15 killed, 65 
wounded, 112 captured. The Confederates sustained 
a loss of 70 killed and wounded. 

Smarting under criticism of his own mismanagement, 
and reiterating his censure of Gen. A. J. Smith in a dis¬ 
patch to General Sherman, Washburn communicated the 
fact that he had ordered General Smith back to Memphis 
and his division to Georgia. Forrest never failed to destroy 
the military reputation of the Federal commanders 
encountered by him, and he now had his revenge on 
Washburn and Smith for the disaster at Harrisburg. 

In a few days Forrest entered upon a campaign through 
north Alabama and middle Tennessee, the incidents of 
which show great celerity of movement and how resource¬ 
ful he was in the face of an enemy greatly superior in 
numbers and strongly fortified at all points. 

With the purpose of operating in north Alabama and 
Tennessee, Forrest crossed the Tennessee river on the 
21 st of September, with Bell’s and Lyon’s brigades of 
Buford’s division, Rucker’s brigade, commanded by Col. 
D. C. Kelley, and Roddey’s troops, commanded by Col. 
W. A. Johnson. On the 20th, the Fourth Tennessee, 
Col. W. S. McLemore, and Col. Geo. H. Nixon’s regi¬ 
ment, Col. J. B. Biffle, Nineteenth Tennessee, com¬ 
manding brigade, were ordered to report to General For¬ 
rest. About 400 men were dismounted. 

During the night of the 23d the command reached the 
town of Athens, Ala., and completely invested it, and 


244 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


at 7 o’clock the next morning an assault was ordered. 
Hudson’s battery, commanded by Lieut. E. S. Walton; 
a section of Morton’s battery, Lieut. Jo. M. Mayson com¬ 
manding; the other section of Morton’s battery, Lieut. 
Tully Brown commanding, all under the command of 
Capt. J. W. Morton, opened fire on the Federal position. 
The troops commenced to advance, when Forrest gave 
the order to cease firing and to halt, and demanded the 
surrender of the fort and garrison. Col. Wallace Camp¬ 
bell, One Hundred and Tenth United States infantry, 
commanding, reported that Forrest’s artillery had planted 
almost every shell inside the works, and satisfied that he 
could not make a successful resistance to a largely supe¬ 
rior force, he yielded to the demand of the Confederate 
general, capitulating with detachments from the One 
Hundred and Sixth United States colored infantry, One 
Hundred and Tenth colored infantry, One Hundred and 
Eleventh colored infantry, and Third regiment Tennessee 
Federal cavalry, numbering 571 officers and men. 

Pending the negotiations for the surrender, firing was 
heard in the direction of Decatur, which proved to be a 
combat between reinforcements approaching Athens and 
the Fifteenth Tennessee, Col. Thos. H. Logwood com¬ 
manding. The Federals took refuge behind piles of cord- 
wood and made a stubborn fight. Logwood charged 
them and forced them out, when they renewed their 
efforts to gain the fort and fought with great gallantry, 
but found that the Twenty-first Tennessee, Col. Jesse 
Forrest, had cut them off. Colonel Nixon and Colonel 
Carter joined the Twenty-first with 300 men, and in a 
few minutes the reinforcements, 350 strong, surrendered 
just in time to see the garrison of the fort march out and 
stack arms. In this combat Col. Jesse Forrest fell 
severely wounded. 

The garrison of a blockhouse surrendered on demand, 
but another one refused with defiance. The artillery at 
once opened on it and the second shot penetrated the walls, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


245 


killing several of the garrison, which caused its surrender. 
Two pieces of artillery, a large number of small-arms, 
38 wagons, 300 horses, with ammunition and other stores, 
were captured. The blockhouse and a train of cars were 
burned and the fort dismantled. The Confederates moved 
forward at once, and four miles north of Athens another 
blockhouse with a garrison of 30 men was captured, 
and the railroad trestle and blockhouse burned. 

On the following morning Sulphur Springs trestle was 
invested, the defenses consisting of a fort and two block¬ 
houses, garrisoned by about 1,000 men. Morton placed 
his guns in a position commanding the redoubt and opened 
fire, and Buford’s division, Kelley’s and Johnson’s bri¬ 
gades, dismounted, assaulted the fort. The guns of the 
forts were silenced and resistance ceased, and after a 
parley following a demand for surrender, Lieutenant-Col¬ 
onel Minnis, the Federal commander, yielded. Colonel 
Lathrop, first in command, was killed, and there 
were many dead in the redoubt from the effect of Mor¬ 
ton’s shot and shell. The fruits of the victory besides 
the prisoners were 700 stand of small-arms, 2 pieces 
of artillery, 16 wagons, 300 horses, and stores of every 
description. The trestle and blockhouses were burned 
and the prisoners sent to the rear. With the horses cap¬ 
tured, the dismounted men were provided. 

The blockhouse at Elk river was next burned, and the 
one at Richland creek, with a garrison of 50 men, was 
captured. Near Pulaski, Forrest encountered the enemy 
in the open field, and after a combat, almost a battle, in 
which his entire command was engaged, the enemy was 
driven with loss to his fortifications. A careful recon- 
noissance was made, and it was decided that the position 
could not be taken without too great a sacrifice of life; 
hence at nightfall the Confederates were withdrawn and 
were moved through Fayetteville toward Tullahoma, 
where Forrest learned that troops were being withdrawn 
from Chattanooga and points in Georgia, and concen- 


246 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


trated in large numbers to intercept and capture his com¬ 
mand. His artillery ammunition was greatly reduced, 
and after dispatching Nixon and Logwood to the rear 
with the prisoners, his command was not strong enough 
to meet the large force gathering about him. He turned 
toward the Tennessee & Alabama railroad. 

Twelve miles from Columbia, four blockhouses with 
120 prisoners were captured. The commanding officer 
of the garrison of one blockhouse refused to surrender, 
and the artillery being with Buford on another road, at 
night ten volunteers from Bell’s brigade were selected to 
burn the bridge, out of hundreds who offered their serv¬ 
ices. These gallant fellows went forward in the face of a 
hot fire from the Federals, applied the torch, and destroyed 
the bridge. ‘ ‘ The night was dark, ’ ’ said General Forrest, 
“but my command marched until io o’clock by the light 
of the burning ruins, which illuminated the country for 
miles. ’’ 

On the 2d of October a demonstration was made on 
Columbia. The next day the Confederates moved toward 
Florence, Ala., which was reached without incident on 
the 5 th. The river (forded two weeks earlier) was swol¬ 
len by recent rains, and the enemy, 15,000 strong, was 
pressing their rear. The ferryboats were ordered to 
the mouth of Cypress creek and many troops ferried 
over, but delay could not be considered. At this emer¬ 
gency, General Forrest ordered all troops north of the 
river, except the Sixteenth Tennessee, under Col. 
Andrew N. Wilson, to mount and swim across a slough 
70 yards wide to an island, from which they could be 
ferried at leisure. 

Unbounded trust was placed in the gallant Wilson and 
his splendid regiment, and it was not misplaced. Almost 
surrounded by 15,000 of the enemy for three days, the 
marvel is that he was not swallowed up. But he stung 
the Federal flanks, contested their advance, and when 
pursued, retired to the hills, gaining his subsistence from 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 247 

the enemy. He continued in this perilous position until 
the entire command crossed the river and the enemy 
began to retire, when he crossed with the faithful Six¬ 
teenth. Wilson lost but 2 men killed and 4 captured, 
and killed and wounded 75 of the enemy. 

Suspecting that the enemy would cross the Tennessee 
river, Col. D. C. Kelley’s brigade, with a section of Hud¬ 
son’s battery under Lieutenant Walton, was moved to 
Eastport. On the 10th the enemy moved up the river 
with two gunboats and three transports loaded with 
troops. Kelley masked his forces until the enemy landed 
a brigade of infantry and three pieces of artillery, when 
Walton opened upon them with his guns. Two shots 
penetrated one gunboat, and a shell was exploded in one of 
the transports, which was soon enveloped in flames. The 
troops were stampeded and the boats pushed off, but in 
the effort to gain the boats many were drowned, 12 
men were killed on the bank of the river, and a large 
number killed and wounded on the boats. Thirty pris¬ 
oners, 4 field guns, 20 horses and 60 stand of small-arms 
were captured. 

The forces under Col. Geo. B. Hoge, commanding the 
expedition so gallantly thwarted by Colonel Kelley, 
consisted of his own regiment, the One Hundred 
and Thirteenth Illinois, the One Hundred and Twen¬ 
tieth Illinois, Sixty-first United States colored infantry, 
and Company G, Second Missouri light artillery, with 
a company of the Twelfth Missouri cavalry. In his 
official report he stated that “on nearing Eastport the 
gunboat Key West went above the landing and seemed 
to be satisfied that there was no enemy near; at least, in 
a few moments Captain King motioned me to land my 
troops. Lieutenants Lytle and Boals, of my staff, started 
out to reconnoiter, and 500 yards from the landing they 
encountered and exchanged shots with the (Confederate) 
enemy’s pickets. In ten minutes after, a battery of six 
rifled guns, masked on the hill, opened on the transports, 


248 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


and another battery of three guns opened on us. Every 
shot was doing more or less execution. One of the gun¬ 
boats, the Undine, was disabled, and was dropping down 
the river, the Key West following. I ordered the troops 
to return to the transports. Just at this time a shell from 
the enemy struck a caisson on board the Kenton (trans¬ 
port), exploding it and setting fire to the boat. Another 
caisson on the Aurora (transport) was exploded, setting 
fire to her. Her steam-pipe was also cut. A scene of 
confusion then began. The boats backed out, leaving 
two-thirds of the men on shore, and the men ran down the 
river bank. After extinguishing the fires I landed and 
got all on board except the badly wounded and captured. ’ ’ 
Hoge reported the loss of 4 field guns and 74 men. 

This affair was a brilliant one for Colonel Kelley and 
his Tennesseeans. No artillery officer with two guns ever 
rendered more effective service than Lieutenant Walton. 
Every shot was a successful one, and it is not surprising 
that the discomfited Hoge magnified his two pieces into 
nine “rifled guns. ” Hoge’s orders were to proceed from 
Eastport to Iuka, Miss., and destroy the railroad and 
bridges, but the evening of the nth found him down the 
river with a demoralized command, 100 or more miles 
distant, at Johnsonville, doubtless listening to the echo 
of Walton’s guns. 

The fruits of the expedition to north Alabama and Ten¬ 
nessee were 3,360 of the enemy, white and black, killed and 
captured—one to each man of Forrest’s command—7 field 
guns, 800 horses, 50 wagons loaded with medical and other 
stores, the destruction of the railroad from Decatur to 
Spring Hill, the withdrawal of reinforcements from the 
army in the field, the destruction of numerous posts, and 
the relief of our people from the presence and oppression 
of the petty commanders of the captured garrisons. 

On the 16th of October, Forrest’s command moved into 
west Tennessee, and in a few days Buford instituted a 
blockade of the Tennessee river. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


249 


Fort Heiman and Paris landing were objective points 
which now had Forrest’s attention. On October 29th, 
with Chalmers’ division, he reached Paris landing, 
where Buford’s division and Lyon’s brigade were already 
on the ground. As usual, his force was magnified by the 
frightened enemy, and every post commander anticipated 
an attack. Gen. S. Meredith, commanding Federal forces 
at Paducah, under date of November 1st, said,“All reports 
concur that he is to attack me soon. ’’ Meredith called for 
1,500 more men to insure the safety of Columbus, and 
2,000 more for Paducah. Later, on the same day, he 
reported: “The gunboat Undine captured and sunk at 
Paris landing. Lyon in command at that point with 4,000 
men and seven pieces of artillery. Forrest at Heiman 
with 8,000 men, five 12-pounders and eighteen siege guns. ’* 
He reported also the capture of the transport Venus, with 
troops and supplies. His fears multiplied Forrest’s forces 
by four, and easily converted field into siege guns. 

General Forrest reported that on the 29th the steamer 
Mazeppa with two barges in tow made her appearance. 
Morton’s battery and two Parrott guns opened on the 
boats and they were disabled and abandoned. A large 
lot of needed stores was captured and distributed to the 
Confederates. The next day the steamer Anna succeeded 
in passing the battery, but was so disabled that she sank 
before reaching the mouth of the river. The Venus was 
followed by the Cheeseman, both convoyed by the gunboat 
Undine. The entire fleet was disabled and captured. 
Lieutenant-Colonel Kelley, with two companies of his 
regiment, was thrown across the river, and soon returned 
with the abandoned boats. 

Forrest ordered Captain Morton to take command of the 
Undine. The latter replied, “General, I can handle your 
guns on land, but I am not familiar with naval fighting. 
I have, however, temporarily attached to my artillery, 
Capt. Frank P. Gracy of Tennessee, a most efficient artil¬ 
lerist and an experienced steamboatman. ’’ Captain Gracy 

Tenn 20 


250 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


was sent for, and the gunboat was inspected and found 
to be in excellent condition, except that two guns were 
dismounted, which was easily remedied. A complement 
of ordnance for a stubborn fight was provided and Captain 
Gracy was placed in command, with the gunboat for his 
flagship. A gallant crew selected from the famous bat¬ 
tery manned the boat, and she moved majestically out, 
with Forrest’s escort flag nailed to the masthead, with 
orders to proceed to Johnsonville, where Captain Gracy 
expected the co-operation of the land batteries. 

Some miles below Johnsonville, however, four gunboats 
from above moved down on his craft, and after a spir¬ 
ited engagement Captain Gracy finally retired down 
stream, when, to his surprise, seven hostile gunboats 
appeared from below. Instantly they poured forth a ter¬ 
rible storm of bursting shells, filling the air, the water, and 
Gracy’s boat. His gallant crew replied with volley after 
volley of deadly missiles, Captain Gracy the while stand¬ 
ing on deck giving orders as coolly as though they were at 
target practice. Several of his guns were dismounted, 
his boat perforated and shattered, and a few of his men 
wounded. He saw that in a few minutes it meant cap¬ 
ture or a sunken boat, hence he had mattresses ripped 
open and piled in the magazine; a parting salute was 
fired at the enemy, and the crew was ordered to jump 
overboard and make for the shore. The last man to 
leave the boat, Captain Gracy applied the torch to the 
magazine, and making his way to the deck sprang into 
the water. Hardly had he reached shore before there was 
a terrific explosion, and his gunboat went up in smoke 
and flame, the hulk sinking to the bottom of the river. 
(R. F. Hoke, in Nashville Banner.) 

On the ist of November the forces under Forrest moved 
up the river, arriving on the 3d at Johnsonville. This 
was a depot of supplies for the Federal armies in the field, 
and according to Federal accounts the garrison consisted 
of 1,200 men, with two Parrott guns in position. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


251 


Thrall’s battery of howitzers was placed in front, above 
Johnsonville, and Morton’s and Hudson’s battles oppo¬ 
site and below the town, all under Captain Morton, acting 
chief of artillery. The batteries opened at a signal from 
Lieutenant Brown’s section of Morton’s battery, and the 
gunboats and field guns responded vigorously, but in 
fifteen minutes gunboats, transports, barges, stores and 
government warehouses were in flames. Everything was 
consumed by fire. Forrest’s three 4-gun batteries were 
magnified by the Federal Captain Howland into thirty- 
six pieces of artillery, “twenty of them 20-pounder 
Parrotts. ’ ’ 

The work of the expedition was completed, and the Con¬ 
federates marched six miles after night, guided by the 
light of the fire at Johnsonville. In a campaign of two 
weeks the forces of Forrest had captured and destroyed 
4 gunboats, 14 transports, 20 barges, 26 pieces of artillery, 
and millions of dollars worth of property, with 150 pris¬ 
oners captured. Captain Howland (Federal) reported that 
one million dollars would cover the loss of property at 
Johnsonville. 

On the 10th, Forrest’s cavalry reached Corinth, Miss., 
and under orders the commanding general put himself in 
communication with General Hood, who was preparing to 
enter upon his disastrous campaign to Franklin and Nash¬ 
ville. 

On the 27th of January, 1865, Gen. Richard Taylor, 
commanding department, assigned General Forrest to the 
command of the district of Mississippi and Louisiana. 
On the 13th of the following month Brig.-Gen. W. H. 
Jackson was assigned to the command of all of the Ten¬ 
nesseeans in the district. Bell’s and Rucker’s brigades, 
the Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Nixon’s and Carter’s regi¬ 
ments, and the Twelfth Confederate were consolidated 
into six regiments, to constitute two brigades, one com¬ 
manded by Col. T. H. Bell, soon made brigadier-general; 
and in a few weeks Brig. -Gen. Alexander W. Campbell, 


252 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


just returned from prison and promoted, was assigned to 
the Second brigade. 

On the 2 2d of March, Major-General Wilson of the 
Federal army, with three divisions of cavalry, 10,000 
strong, left Chickasaw, Ala. On the 30th he reached 
Ely ton, whence Croxton’s command was sent to Tusca¬ 
loosa. Jackson's Tennessee division forced Croxton to 
cross to the north side of the Warrior river, and after a 
forced march of thirty-five miles, guided by negroes 
through the fields and byways, the Federals entered the 
undefended town of Tuscaloosa, and with malignant tri¬ 
umph burned the university buildings, the factory, the 
foundry, the bridge over the Warrior, and the two large 
warehouses in Tuscaloosa and Northport, on the opposite 
bank of the Warrior. Captain Hardcastle, commanding 
the post, reported that Croxton captured an important 
scout twelve miles away and came into possession of 
important information through which success was easily 
attained. 

Forrest undertook to concentrate his scattered forces at 
Selma, Ala. Jackson encountered Croxton ’s brigade north 
of Scottsville and punished it severely, capturing prisoners, 
several stand of colors and several hundred horses. For¬ 
rest undertook the defense of Selma with an insignificant 
force in numbers, Jackson, Chalmers and Buford, with 
their divisions, not being present, and a gallant fight was 
made, but the field was lost and Selma was evacuated by 
the Confederates. At Marion, Forrest was joined by the 
Tennesseeans under Jackson, and a week was spent 
gathering together his forces. On the 15 th he established 
his headquarters at Gainesville. Soon rumors of the sur¬ 
render of the army of Northern Virginia were circulated, 
though not credited, and a few days later the army of 
Tennessee was surrendered, followed by the surrender of 
the troops in the department commanded by General 
Taylor. On the 9th of May, General Forrest issued an 
address of farewell to his command, in which he said. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


263 


4 ‘You have been good soldiers, you can be good citizens. ** 
Gen. Richard Taylor said of Forrest, “Like Lord Clive, 
nature made him a great soldier. His tactics deserve the 
closest study of military men. He employed the tactics 
of Frederick at Leuthen and Zorndorf, though he had 
never heard these names.” 

The State of Tennessee contributed 115,000 soldiers to 
the Confederate army, many counties furnishing more 
men than they had voters. Two hundred and ninety-six 
battles, combats and skirmishes were fought upon her soil, 
many of them unimportant and without result, but at all 
of them brave men were killed or wounded. For four 
years war was the occupation of her people. 

The old men and the women dedicated themselves to 
the service of husbands, sons and brothers, and through 
trusted agents, often through faithful slaves, clothing was 
sent to them. The soldiers were never too distant to 
escape their careful attention. Federal invasion and occu¬ 
pation of the State brought poverty and distress to every 
household. The tramp of the hostile soldier was the too 
familiar sound. Robbers in uniform were ready at all 
times to sweep away crops and household effects, but there 
was no diminution of patriotic zeal on the part of either 
sex. Oppression stimulated their efforts. No man was 
so old or infirm, and no lady so delicate, as to relax the 
determination to serve the soldiers in the field; and when 
the hour for surrender came, the fathers, mothers and 
sisters of Tennessee endured the poverty that it brought 
with the same patriotic resolution that sustained them 
through four years of war. 


CHAPTER XIII. 


TENNESSEE AND THE NAVY. 

HE State of Tennessee furnished 31,000 white 



men to the Federal government during the war 


■ between the States. Among them were David 
G. Farragut and Samuel Carter. 

Admiral Farragut commanded the largest and most 
powerful force that had ever been controlled by any 
American naval officer, and the results of the operations 
of that force in the waters of the Mississippi were more 
fatal to the Confederacy than any of the military cam¬ 
paigns. The achievements of his fleet enabled General 
Grant to cross the Mississippi with safety, and to get in 
the rear of Vicksburg. The fall of that essential position 
was thus assured, and the Confederacy cut in twain. At 
the date of it, Texas had become the chief source of 
supply for cattle, horses and other essentials. The 
control of the Mississippi river by the Federal naval 
forces was a fatal blow to the Confederacy, and reduced 
the war from the position of a contest having many 
probabilities of success to a purely defensive struggle 
for safety. (Capt. James D. Bulloch.) 

Rear-Admiral Carter, then a lieutenant-commander, 
U. S. N., was withdrawn from the navy early in 1861, 
and commissioned as a brigadier-general of volunteers, 
charged with the organization of the men of Tennessee 
who were loyal to the Federal union into regiments, and 
prepare them for the field. His heart, like Farragut’s, 
was in the work. He brought to it professional training, 
good character, high social standing, and large family 
influence. He gave respectability to the cause he es¬ 
poused at the beginning of the war, and very soon per- 


254 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


255 


fected organizations which commanded the sympathy and 
support of the great body of the people of east Tennessee, 
and secured that division of the State (in the heart of the 
Confederate States) to the Federal government. Farragut 
and Carter, both natives of east Tennessee, were 
important factors in making Confederate success impos¬ 
sible. 

Tennesseeans in the United States navy who re¬ 
signed to accept service in the Confederate States navy 
were: George W. Gift, J. W. Dunnington, Jesse Taylor, 
W. P. A. Campbell, Thomas Kennedy Porter, A. D. Whar¬ 
ton, George A. Howard and W. W. Carnes. 

Lieutenant Gift is famous for having commanded, with 
Lieutenant Grimball, the 8-inch columbiads on the Con¬ 
federate ram Arkansas. The Arkansas was built by 
Capt. John T. Shirley at Memphis, Tenn. At the fall of 
New Orleans she was towed up the Yazoo. 

On the 15th of July, 1862, the ram started out from 
Haynes’ Bluff, under the command of Capt. I. W. Brown, 
with a crew of 200 officers and men, for Mobile bay, with 
orders to raise the blockade of that port. Lieutenant 
Gift, in his history of the exploits of the Arkansas, states 
that “Sunrise found us in the Yazoo river with more than 
twenty ships barring our way, and in for one of the most 
desperate fights any one ship ever sustained since ships 
were first made.’’ Lieutenant Gift fought the port gun, 
with John Wilson, of Baltimore, as his lieutenant. Grim¬ 
ball fought the starboard gun, and had for his lieutenant 
Midshipman Dabney M. Scales, now a prominent lawyer 
and ex-State senator from Memphis. Lieut. A. D. Whar¬ 
ton came next on the starboard side, each lieutenant 
with two guns. Soon three Federal gunboats were seen 
steaming toward the Arkansas, the ironclad Carondelet, 
of twelve guns, the Tyler, and the Queen of the West. The 
Arkansas was steered direct for the Tyler, and Gift fired 
the first shot with an 8-inch shell, which struck her fair 
and square, killing a pilot and bursting in the engine- 


256 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


room. The Tyler reported 17 killed and 14 wounded. 
The Queen of the West coming up, Scales gave her a 
shell, followed quickly by another from Wharton, and she 
was just able to retire from the conflict. In a short time 
,the Tyler, badly crippled, took flight and joined her dis¬ 
abled consort. The Carondelet was struck four times by 
Gift. Lieutenant Reed gave her two shots from the stern 
guns, when she hauled down her colors; at the same time 
Wharton opened on the starboard broadside, which 
brought out white flags at her ports. The Carondelet 
sank. But the Arkansas had no time to secure a prize, 
and pursued the fleeing vessels, now in the Mississippi 
river. 

Immediately Farragut and Davis prepared to receive the 
Arkansas with more than a dozen war vessels. No more 
gallant action on land or sea was ever witnessed than that 
of Captain Brown. In addition to Farragut’s fleet, bat¬ 
teries of field artillery were in position, and several thou¬ 
sand soldiers prepared to fire into the ports of his vessel. 
The Arkansas was an untried and an unfinished vessel, 
with engines that proved to be totally unreliable. The 
first attack was made by the Federal gunboat No. 6. She 
fired her n-inch pivot gun loaded with grape. Gift 
returned the fire with a shell that went through and 
through the No. 6, and then a port broadside took her 
disabled out of the action. The Arkansas now became 
the target for a hundred guns. Generals Breckinridge 
and Van Dorn, and thousands of Confederate soldiers, 
stood as silent witnesses of the uneven contest, unable 
to render the slightest assistance. 

It was a brave fight; nothing comparable to it at 
Manila or Santiago de Cuba. Gift fired a five-second 
shell at the Lancaster, as that vessel moved across the 
path of the Arkansas, which struck the mud-drum, empty¬ 
ing the hot steam and water into the engine-room, and 
killing a large number of the crew and sharpshooters. 
But there was no rest for the Arkansas; the shot struck 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


257 


upon her sides as fast as sledge-hammer blows. Captain 
Brown was twice knocked down and wounded in the head, 
but he heroically resumed his place. Some one called out 
that the colors had been shot away, and in an instant, said 
Gift, Midshipman Dabney M. Scales, a glorious fellow, 
scrambled up the ladder and, fearlessly treading the ter¬ 
rible path of death, swept by a hurricane of shot and 
shell, raised the colors again. A shell penetrated the 
Arkansas and exploded with terrible effect, and when 
the smoke cleared away, it was found that but one man 
out of seventeen of Gift’s bow-gun crew had escaped death 
or wounds. In another instant an n-inch shot crushed 
through above the port, bringing with it a shower of iron 
and wooden splinters, which struck down every man at 
Gift’s broadside gun, smashed his own arm, and passing 
across the deck, killed 8 and wounded 7 of Scales’ men. 
The Arkansas reached Vicksburg, disabled and weakened 
by heavy losses. The detachment of the land forces serv¬ 
ing temporarily on the Arkansas joined its proper com¬ 
mand. 

At night Farragut’s sea-going fleet and Davis’ iron¬ 
clads passed down the river. They came by singly, and 
each was punished as they crossed the line of fire of the 
Arkansas. An n-inch shot from Farragut’s flagship 
penetrated her side just above the water line, killing 2 
and wounding 6 others. 

On the morning of the 2 2d of July, the ironclad Essex 
appeared, followed by the Queen of the West, and under¬ 
took to run into the Arkansas, both trying to ram her, 
but were driven off and disabled, and a mortar boat blown 
up. The crew of the Arkansas was now reduced to sev¬ 
enteen. With this small force, the repulse of these two 
vessels will always be considered her best achievement. 

When General Breckinridge entered upon his campaign 
against Baton Rouge, the co-operation of the Arkansas 
was expected, but her engines gave way in full view of 
the point of attack, and becoming unmanageable on ac- 

Tenn 12 


258 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


count of a break in a vital part of her machinery, to avoid 
capture she was destroyed by fire. Captain Brown was 
made a commodore, and Stevens, the executive officer, 
Reed, Gift, Wharton and Scales won great distinction. 

The battle of Mobile Bay was fought August 5, 1864. 
The enemy’s fleet, under Admiral Farragut, consisted of 
14 steamers and 4 monitors, carrying 199 guns and 2,700 
men. The Confederate naval commander, Admiral 
Franklin Buchanan, had the wooden gunboats Morgan 
and Gaines, each carrying 6 guns, the Selma of 4 guns, 
and the ram Tennessee of 6 guns, in all 22 guns and 470 
men. In this unequal contest, there could be no question 
as to the result. The engagement lasted an hour, and 
serious injury was inflicted on many vessels of the Fed¬ 
eral fleet. Frequently during the contest the Tennessee 
was surrounded by the enemy, and all her guns were 
in action at the same moment. The noble Confederate 
admiral was wounded and carried below, and soon the 
Tennessee was surrendered. The other ships were well 
fought, and surrendered after they were disabled and 
overpowered. The Gaines, in a sinking condition, was 
run on shore near Fort Morgan. The gallant Lieut. 
A. D. Wharton, of Tennessee, was with Admiral Buchanan 
on the ram Tennessee, and rendered valuable and con¬ 
spicuous service. 

When Fort Pillow was evacuated by the Confederate 
forces, the gunboat Pontchartrain, commanded by Lieut. 
John W. Dunnington, which constituted a part of the 
fleet commanded by Capt. Geo. N. Hollins, provided for 
the defense of the Mississippi river, was run up White 
river. At an earlier date, Lieutenant Dunnington had 
participated in the operations against Pope’s army at 
Point Pleasant, Mo., and was active in resisting the 
crossing of the river. At the surrender of the Confeder¬ 
ate forces near Tiptonville, the Ponchartrain was ordered 
to Fort Pillow. On the 16th of June, 1862, Lieutenant 
Dunnington arrived at St. Charles on White river, with 


CONFEDERATE military history. 


259 


the men necessary to work the 32-pounder cannon, which 
he had previously placed in battery. He was hardly in 
position before the approach of the Federal gunboats was 
announced. After dark, Capt. Joseph Fry, commanding 
the naval forces, undertook to blockade the river against 
the enemy’s advance, and with his own crew, he sunk the 
gunboat Maurepas in the main current, remaining on 
deck until the gundeck was submerged. At 8130 the next 
morning the Federal fleet advanced up the river. When 
abreast of Captain Fry’s rifled guns, the gunboats opened 
with all of their guns, but failed to silence Fry’s battery. 
They then moved up the river until they were in point 
blank range of one of Dunnington’s guns. The boat in 
advance, the Mound City, moved up for position and 
placed herself between his two guns. At 10130, Dunning¬ 
ton’s upper gun fired a shot at the Mound City, passing 
through the boilers, steam chest or pipes, filling the ves¬ 
sel with steam, and causing all that were not killed to 
jump into the river. More than 50 were killed and as 
many disabled. The vessel drifted across the stream 
into the bank. The rifled guns opened on the lower 
gunboat and sent it disabled down the river. 

The naval contingent had no support, and after the 
Mound City was disabled, and the retreat of the gunboats 
St. Louis, Conestoga and Lexington, Colonel Fitch, with 
the Twenty-sixth Indiana infantry, took the batteries in 
rear and forced the Confederates to retreat. This was 
conducted in safety by Lieutenant Dunnington. Captain 
Fry was seriously wounded and captured. He survived 
wounds and a cruel imprisonment, and was captured in 
Cuban waters on the 1st of November, 1873, by a Spanish 
man-of-war, the Toreador, and on the 7th, after a mock 
trial, in company with fifty-three other American citizens, 
was murdered in the plaza of Santiago de Cuba. When 
captured, Captain Fry was in command of the steamer 
Virginius, with an alleged filibustering expedition. 


260 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Dunnington, one of the noblest of men, survived the 
war for more than ten years. 

Wharton has dedicated his life to public education, and 
is one of the foremost in that field. 

Lieut. Jesse Taylor became captain of heavy artillery; 
his splendid service at Fort Henry has been already 
chronicled. 

Lieut. W. P. A. Campbell was constantly employed on 
the coast and harbor defenses, and was an efficient and 
gallant officer. About the year 1870 he was made a major 
of engineers in the army of Ismail Pasha, the Khedive of 
Egypt. He was a useful officer, constantly employed, 
and trusted by those in authority. He was finally sent to 
the Soudan, with a detachment of troops, and there died 
a victim of malarial fever. 

Geo. A. Howard resigned from the naval academy just 
before graduation; was made adjutant of the Seventh 
Tennessee infantry, and was distinguished in the prin¬ 
cipal battles fought by the army of Northern Virginia. 
More than once he commanded the regiment in action. 
He has filled conspicuous places of honor and trust at 
home and at the Federal capital, and is a leading citizen 
of Tennessee. 

W. W. Carnes resigned from the naval academy before 
graduation; became captain of artillery in Cheatham’s 
division, and was conspicuous wherever that famous com¬ 
mand was engaged. He is now a prominent citizen of 
Memphis, and is the incumbent of an important civil 
office, to which he was chosen by the people. 

Lieut. Thomas Kennedy Porter resigned from the 
United States navy in 1861, and was appointed to the 
same rank in the Confederate navy, but accepted the com¬ 
mand of a company of field artillery tendered him by the 
governor of Tennessee. He commanded Porter’s battery 
at the battle of Fort Donelson, and was severely wounded 
and disabled for a year. Returning to the army, he was 
promoted, and commanded the artillery of Buckner’s corps 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 261 

at Chickamauga. He then resigned from the army, took 
service in the navy, and was for several months executive 
officer of the ironclad North Carolina, a steamer provided 
for coast and harbor defense. He was then ordered to 
Bermuda, where he joined the cruiser Florida as her 
executive officer. The Florida continued her career as a 
commerce destroyer until the 4th of October, 1864, when 
she arrived at Bahia, Brazil, to procure coal and provi¬ 
sions, and for repairs, after a cruise of 61 days. At 3:00 
a. m. of the 7 th of-October, the United States man-of- 
war Wachusett, Captain Collins, ran into the Florida, 
intending to sink her, and very serious injury was inflicted 
upon the ship. At the same time the Wachusett fired 
about 200 shots from her small-arms, and two from her 
great guns, and then demanded her surrender. At the 
request of the Brazilian naval commander, the Florida had 
anchored inshore of his squadron, steam had gone down 
and fires were hauled. Commander Morris, with several 
officers and 70 of the crew of the Florida, was on shore on 
liberty. In this condition of affairs the cruiser was surren¬ 
dered. The officers were paroled and with two-thirds of 
the men transferred to the Wachusett. The men were 
outraged by being put in double irons. One poor fellow, 
Henry Norman, was ironed to a stanchion with his 
hands behind him for having a key to a pair of the Flor¬ 
ida’s irons in his pocket. Another was put in a sweat-box 
for eighteen nights, because, said Captain Collins, “He 
was seen talking, and when his master-at-arms came up, 
he stopped. ’’ Eighteen of the crew were put ashore pen¬ 
niless, on the Island of St. Thomas, after Collins had 
promised to restore their money which had been taken 
from them. No restoration was made. 

On the arrival of the Wachusett at Fortress Monroe, the 
officers and men were sent to Point Lookout prison, 
whence the officers were sent to the Old Capitol prison at 
Washington, and a few days later joined the men at Fort 
Warren, Boston. At Fortress Monroe, Lieutenant Porter, 


262 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


hearing that the money-chest of the Florida had been 
opened, called on Collins to restore several hundred dol¬ 
lars, private funds, belonging to the ward-room mess. 
This was refused. 

At Fortress Monroe an offer was made to the men, 
through Lieutenant Beardsley, U. S. N., to release them 
from prison, upon condition that they would subscribe 
to an oath of allegiance. Only one man out of 53 deserted 
his flag, and that desertion occurred the day of the cap¬ 
ture. 

At Fort Warren the men were all put in one room, 
and the eleven officers in another with 32 other prison¬ 
ers. The rooms were casemates, 50 feet long and 18 
feet wide. At 8:00 a. m. the prisoners were marched 
around to the cook-house and given a loaf of bread 
each. After 12 they were marched around again and 
received their dinner, consisting of 8 ounces of cooked 
meat with a half pint of thin soup, three days of the week, 
and two potatoes, some beans or hominy the other days. 

On the 24th of December, the officers of the Florida 
were locked up in a casemate and kept in close confine¬ 
ment day and night, upon the report of a prison spy that 
a plan for capturing the fort was under discussion. This 
continued until the 19th of January, when the prisoners 
were relieved from close confinement, and notified that 
they would be released on condition that they would sign a 
parole to leave the United States in ten days. Lieutenant 
Porter informed the secretary of the navy that they would 
give the parole, but asked for the return of the $13,000 
taken from the Florida, saying that it was necessary to 
have that, unless the United States would send the officers 
and men to Europe. No attention was paid to this re¬ 
quest, and finding that the Federal authorities would do 
nothing, an arrangement was made with an English pas¬ 
senger ship for their transportation to Europe by giving 
a draft to be paid at Liverpool. (Report of Lieutenant 
Porter.) 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


263 


Upon the demand of Brazil, the act of Collins, com¬ 
mander of the Wachnsett, was disavowed, and on the 
20th of December, Mr. Seward informed the minister 
of Brazil that the prisoners would be set at liberty. 
He said the act “was an unauthorized, unlawful and 
indefensible exercise of the naval force of the United 
States within a foreign country.” Professor Soley, 
of the United States navy, discussing the conduct of 
Collins, has said: “The capture of the Florida was as 
gross and deliberate a violation of the rights of neutrals 
as was ever committed in any age or country. It is idle 
to attempt to apologize for it or to explain it; the circum¬ 
stances were such that the question does not admit of 
discussion.” (“ The Blockade and the Cruisers,” Soley, 
p. 189.) 

If it had been within his province, he could have added 
that in the judgment of contemporaneous history, Collins' 
act was a cowardly one, and his treatment of the prison¬ 
ers was brutal, not more so, however, than that by the 
authorities at Fort Warren and Washington. 

H. M. Doak, Esq., of Nashville, in an interview with a 
reporter of a city paper in 1896, said: “I knew Capt. 
T. K. Porter at Wilmington, N. C., where he was execu¬ 
tive officer of the gunboat North Carolina, a heavy iron¬ 
clad. He was a graduate of the naval academy, and had 
resigned to cast his fortunes with his native State and 
his people. He had served as captain of a battery of 
artillery in the army of the West, where his battery was 
known as ‘Porter’s battery.’ I saw it in action, and 
heard it thunder at Fort Donelson. His fame as a skillful 
artillery officer and brave commander will never be for¬ 
gotten by the soldiers of the West. His battery had such 
fame as attached to the Washington artillery, or to Cheat¬ 
ham’s or Hardee’s commands in infantry. Physically, he 
was one of the noblest-looking of men. As an officer, 
everything about his ship was in perfect order, its dis¬ 
cipline superb, and yet his command as gentle as it was 


264 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


firm and rigid. Affable and kind, the soul of lofty honor, 
calm, true and fearless, he was loved and respected by 
all. He left Wilmington to report as executive officer of 
Maffitt’s ship, the Florida. Shortly after he came to the 
Florida, that famous cruiser was captured in one of the 
South American ports by a flagrant violation of the 
neutrality laws. He was confined in Fort Warren, Mass., 
and lost his life after the war, while in command of a 
merchant steamer on the Pacific. I have never known a 
more superb gentleman, never a man who seemed to me 
so entirely to discharge a gentleman’s duty—to be a 
gentleman at all times and under all circumstances. I 
say this to you for print, for the memory of such men 
should be continually recalled, and many an old soldier 
will remember ‘Porter’s battery’ and remember its true 
and noble commander, and be better for thinking once 
more of his old comrade, whom to have known intimately, 
as I did, was to have loved him, and to have been the 
better for such acquaintance. ’ ’ 

H. M. Doak and John F. Wheless joined the Confed¬ 
erate navy, the first after Shiloh. Doak was for a long 
time on the ironclad Wilmington, where his services 
were as conspicuous as they had been as adjutant of the 
famous Nineteenth Tennessee infantry at Fishing creek 
and Shiloh. Since 1865 he has been a leader and director 
of public opinion in Tennessee; for years the leading 
journalist of the State, and is now in possession of an 
honorable office connected with the courts of the country. 
Captain Wheless served for a year as captain of the First 
Tennessee, and then on the staff of Lieutenant-General 
Polk; after Chickamauga he was made a paymaster in 
the Confederate navy. After 1865 he entered upon a 
successful business career, and died in late years, too 
soon for his friends and for the State. 


CHAPTER XIV. 

TENNESSEE AND THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT. 

T HERE was no difficulty in finding qualified medical 
officers in Tennessee. Medical education had at¬ 
tained a high standard, and surgeons were supplied 
as soon as regimental organizations were made. 

Dr. B. W. Avent, a man of ripe experience, great skill 
and administrative ability, was made surgeon-general of 
the provisional army of the State. So perfect was his 
system that the department was adopted by the Confeder¬ 
ate authorities without material change. The subsequent 
efficiency of this branch of the service is largely due to 
the foresight and skill of this eminent man. 

As soon as the troops were mustered, the demand for the 
establishment of hospitals was created. The men from 
the rural districts were the victims of measles to such an 
extent that camps of instruction were converted into 
hospitals. Dr. S. H. Stout, surgeon of the Third Ten¬ 
nessee infantry, states that this regiment was sent to Camp 
Cheatham, near Nashville, in May, 1861, 1,100 strong, and 
within two months 650 men were treated for this disease 
alone. This was about the percentage prevailing in all 
of the regiments. 

This condition demanded an immediate hospital service, 
and Nashville became the chief post of the Southwest. 
Troops from other States were being concentrated at Bowl¬ 
ing Green, Ky., Fort Donelson, and other accessible 
points; and before the battle at the point last named, 
there were in the hospitals established at Nashville nearly 
13,000 sick men under treatment, provision having been 
made for them by the State of Tennessee out of her own 
abundant resources. 

265 

Tenn 22 


266 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


On the fall of Fort Donelson and the abandonment of 
Nashville, provision for the sick was the greatest care and 
responsibility. To the medical officers alone can be 
accorded commendation for their removal. Hospitals with 
capacity for the care of the large number of sick had been 
provided at Nashville, with all needed appliances. Intel¬ 
ligent medical officers, aided by the noble women of that 
city, had made them not only inviting, but a positive 
luxury to the sick. But they were hastily broken up and 
the sick transferred to other points. 

When Gen. A. S. Johnston assumed command of the 
department, his medical director, Dr. D. W. Yandell of 
Kentucky, a Tennesseean by birth and education, a very 
able and accomplished man, assumed direction of the hos¬ 
pital service of the State and controlled it with great suc¬ 
cess. On the fall of General Johnston and the assign¬ 
ment of General Bragg to the command of the army, 
Dr. A. J. Foard, medical director on his staff, became the 
supreme authority. 

When General Johnston retired from Nashville he gave 
orders to Dr. Samuel H. Stout, already detailed to hospital 
duty at Nashville, to proceed to Chattanooga to take 
charge of the small hospital at that point and to organize 
others as the exigencies of the service required. General 
Johnston had his attention directed to Dr. Stout after an 
inspection of his regimental hospital at Bowling Green, 
and of the general hospital at Nashville. Soon the sick 
and wounded accumulated so rapidly at Chattanooga that 
new and more complete buildings were provided and 
ample provision made for the care of all. 

In July, 1862, General Bragg (then about to inaugurate 
his Kentucky campaign), in company with Medical Direc¬ 
tor Foard, made a thorough personal inspection of the 
hospitals at Chattanooga—the buildings, the beds, the 
laundries, the cook rooms. Soon after this, Dr. Stout 
was summoned to the medical headquarters of the 
army, where he was informed by Dr. Foard that 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 267 

General Bragg had directed him to be assured that he 
was satisfied and pleased with his management of 
his hospitals. Three days after this, General Bragg 
issued orders placing the general hospitals of the army 
and department under Dr. Stout, as superintendent, 
with power to locate them and to assign medical officers 
to duty. As often as military reasons demanded the 
evacuation of our territory, the medical department was 
so managed that hospitals could be removed, with their 
organizations preserved. An illustration is found in the 
“Academy hospital” at Chattanooga. Upon the evacu¬ 
ation of that place it was removed to Marietta, Ga.,then 
to Atlanta, to Forsyth, to Auburn, Ala., to Corinth, Miss., 
and finally returned to Auburn. 

After the battle of Murfreesboro, Dr. Avent was left 
in charge of about 500 Confederates, too badly wounded 
for removal. He so impressed General Rosecrans that 
orders were given to honor any requisition made for sup¬ 
plies for his wounded. On his return to the South, at his 
own request, he was assigned to hospital duty. 

General Bragg was keenly alive to the importance of a 
complete hospital service, and gave the subject his per¬ 
sonal attention. In a communication addressed to Dr. 
Stout under date of January, 1864, he said: “The opera¬ 
tions of the hospital department of our army of Tennessee, 
especially since systematized by you, I have always 
claimed as perfect so far as means allowed, and I have 
every reason to believe it is considered by our govern¬ 
ment as superior to any in the country. I hope you will 
find it agreeable to continue your service, so important 
to the sick and wounded, and so beneficial to the army.” 

Dr. Stout is a native of Nashville, an alumnus of her 
university, which, in gratitude for his eminent services, 
conferred upon him the degree of LL. D., supplementing 
those of A. B. and A. M. He is a graduate of the medical 
department of the University of Pennsylvania, and is now 
a citizen of the State of Texas, where he enjoys the high¬ 
est personal and professional consideration. 


268 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


When Dr. Stout was called upon to name the Tennes¬ 
seeans who in his opinion were most distinguished for 
their services to the general and field hospitals, he named 
Doctors B. W. Avent, Frank Rice, J. R. Buist, R. W. 
Mitchell, W. L. Nichol, J. B. Murfree, Clayton, John 
Patterson, Compton, R. C. Foster, G. W. and John H. 
Currey, J. M. Kellar, J. B. Cowan, G. B. Thornton, C. C. 
Abernathy, J. F. Grant, and Bell, killed at Island No. io. 
A notice of this service is incomplete unless mention is 
made of the services of Dr. J. H. Bryson, a clergyman of 
Tennessee, appointed by General Bragg to look after the 
religious interests of the sick and wounded in the general 
hospitals. This devoted man gave every moment of his 
time to this service, and won the love and gratitude of all 
with whom he came in contact. His task was a herculean 
one, but he met it with the same courage characteristic 
of the men whose spiritual welfare he was seeking to 
promote. 

No body of men in the service were more patriotic, 
more courageous and more self-sacrificing than the medi¬ 
cal officers of Tennessee. They were on the battlefield, 
in the hospitals, often surrounded by contagious disease, 
but no one of them failed to discharge his full duty. 


CHAPTER XV. 

TENNESSEE AND THE CHURCH, BY REV. M. B. DEWITT, 
CHAPLAIN OF THE EIGHTH TENNESSEE. 

r one who had an active part in the great struggle 
of the war between the States, the religious ele¬ 
ment must ever be an important factor. Indeed, 
to the thoughtful general reader and to the historian it 
must have great significance. The reason is simple and 
ample. It may be unhesitatingly said that no people 
ever entered into a mighty conflict of arms with a clearer 
apprehension and deeper appreciation of their constitu¬ 
tional, natural and religious rights and obligations than 
did the citizens of those States which withdrew from the 
American Union and formed the Confederate States of 
America. They inherited from their forefathers those 
great qualities and views of life which combine to consti¬ 
tute the finest character of an intelligent, courageous, 
patriotic and God-fearing people. They drank the 
essence of freedom and faith from their mothers’ breasts, 
and their noble aspirations and invincible honor were 
kindled from the teachings and examples of their fathers. 

It is not too much to say here, that doubtless no part 
of the world was ever more thoroughly permeated by the 
spirit and power of the doctrines of the Bible than that 
part of the United States which has been long distinctly 
and historically designated as “the South.” The brave 
people of this broad region believed in God and in His 
written word, and the foundations of their common¬ 
wealths were laid in faith in the Author of their lives and 
liberties. The Christian religion was as substantially a 
reality to them as the delights and comforts of home, and 
the blessings of free government under wise laws. The 
Church in its various branches had its organizations and 


269 


2T0 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


services in every portion of the territory, and the homo¬ 
geneity of population, by reason of but small influx of 
foreign irreligious elements, assured the transmission of 
the dear old beliefs from sire to son without serious 
admixture of diluting skepticism. The power of religion 
among the Southern people was never greater than at the 
very period when came the awful crisis of internecine 
war. 

Keeping these leading facts in mind, it is scarcely to 
be wondered at that, when the actual call to arms was 
made, the universal sentknent of the South was a solemn 
appeal to heaven for the rectitude of its purposes and 
devout prayer to God for His abiding presence and bless¬ 
ings in the mighty struggle. The very initiation of prepa¬ 
rations, enlistments of men, organizations of companies 
and regiments, contributions of clothing, supplies of 
food, and every step taken for war, witnessed religious 
services in churches all over the land, besides innumer¬ 
able smaller gatherings for prayer, with special reference 
to the departure of the beloved husbands, fathers, sons, 
brothers, friends and neighbors to join the army. A 
profound sense of dependence on the divine providence 
was a common feeling throughout the Confederate States. 
It is to be admitted that while this is true, it is also true 
that a large number of the young men of the South were 
at first almost swept off their feet by the intense excite¬ 
ment created by open hostilities. Many went wild with 
the sentiment of resistance to the combined attempts of 
the United States government and the various Northern 
States to force the South into submission to Federal author¬ 
ity, and the natural exuberance of youth was released 
from the common wholesome restraints of home and 
ordinary social life by separation from them, and by the 
formation of military camps where thousands of volun¬ 
teers were assembled for preparation to enter active serv¬ 
ice. It did not require a long time to bring very general 
seriousness of mind when burdens began to be laid upon 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


271 


the young shoulders and when much sickness prostrated 
large numbers, and many deaths occurred before a blow 
had been struck for the cause. The older heads and the 
preponderating Christian sentiment felt the responsibility 
of the hour from the beginning, and in this record we 
shall see that the very leaders of the great movement 
were men who had found God and sought His favor both 
privately and publicly. 

A very grave mistake was made by great numbers of 
people in supposing, at first, that the war would be ended 
in a short time. This mistake added to the excitement 
in youthful minds so that they were in a hurry to enlist 
and do some fighting, for fear that the contest would be 
but “a breakfast spell” and they get no part in it. A 
gradual real and powerful change came by reaction, and 
volunteers became experienced veterans enlisted for the 
war; laying everything upon the altar of country and 
facing the stem future without fear. A conviction forced 
itself into the common consciousness that a long, desperate 
and bitter struggle was before the people of the South. 
The wise, the rich, the rulers and the people, the small 
and the great, became deeply engaged in solving the 
problem of national life, and of the rights and freedom of 
States and men. The extreme gravity of the situation 
impressed the entire population, so that from the date of 
the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency of the 
United States in i860, to the end of the war in 1865, a 
great volume of prayer ascended to the God of our 
fathers. 

The national recognition of the superintending provi¬ 
dence of God was made so early in the strife th?t 
Jefferson Davis issued a call for a day of fasting and 
prayer, to be observed on June 13, 1861, only a few weeks 
after the opening of hostilities. This call by the President 
of the Confederate States was honored by the churches 
throughout the Southern States, and it created a deep 
sense of the needs of the country. Such proclamations 


272 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


were made from time to time by our Christian President 
until the close of the strife. A characteristic order of 
General Lee was one for the careful observance of the 
Sabbath day, as far as it was possible. The second sec¬ 
tion of this “General Order, No. 15“ is in these words: 
“He [the general commanding] directs that none but 
duties strictly necessary shall be required to be performed 
on Sunday, and that all labor, both of men and animals, 
which it is practicable to anticipate or postpone, or the 
immediate performance of which is not essential to the 
safety, health, or comfort of the army, shall be suspended 
on that day. ’ ’ He followed this with orders to all officers 
commanding to “give their attention to the maintenance 
of order and quiet around the place of worship, and pro¬ 
hibit anything that may tend to disturb or interrupt 
religious exercises. ’ ’ 

Of all the great leaders in the Confederate armies, it is 
doubtless true that many persons, North and South, held 
the opinion that Gen. N. B. Forrest was the most reck¬ 
less and wicked. The famous cavalier issued a general 
order from Tupelo, Miss., May 14, 1864, i n which he said: 
“The major-general commanding, devoutly grateful to 
the providence of Almighty God, so signally vouchsafed 
to his command during the recent campaign in west Ten¬ 
nessee, and deeply penetrated with a sense of depend¬ 
ence on the mercy of God in the present crisis of our 
beloved country, requests that military duties be so far 
suspended that divine service may be attended at 10 
o’clock a. m. to-morrow by the whole command. Divine 
service will be held at these headquarters, at which all 
soldiers who are disposed to do so are kindly invited to 
attend. Come one, come all. Chaplains, in the minis¬ 
trations of the gospel, are requested to remember our per¬ 
sonal preservation with thanksgiving, and especially to 
beseech a throne of grace for aid in this, our country’s 
hour of need. ’ ’ 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


273 


A very brown clipping lies before the writer, which is 
an article from the “Army and Navy Herald,” published 
during the war, headed “Forrest and Providence,’’in 
which the above “General Order, No. 4“ is printed, and 
the editor says: “The general is far from being a Chris¬ 
tian, it is true, in many of his moments of excitement, 
but no man is more truly a believer in the God of the 
Bible and Providence, or more ready to acknowledge his 
wrongs and his faith. ’ ’ Let it be written here that that 
belief, which was theoretical in his head during the war, 
became, after its close, experimental and practical by his 
public profession of it, in uniting with the church in 
Memphis, of which his devout wife was a member. 

What has been recorded above is given simply as 
examples of the spirit and course of the great body of 
the leaders in both civil and military circles of the Con¬ 
federate States, and it is scarcely necessary to say how 
positive, consistent and constant was the religious life of 
Stonewall Jackson, Leonidas Polk, Joseph E. Johnston, 
D. H. Hill, J. E. B. Stuart, A. P. Stewart, and others in 
all the fearful days of conflict. The President of the 
Confederacy and all in authority under him, the gov¬ 
ernors of all the States, and the people with them, pro¬ 
moted every enterprise by financial and personal aid and 
by giving whatsoever of opportunity and liberty may 
have been practicable in war, in order to secure the direct 
religious welfare of soldiers and citizens. 

This survey of the general spirit of the government and 
all under it on this great subject, prepares us for con¬ 
sidering more specific, united and individual efforts 
toward the same important end—the religious interests of 
the people. It way be truly stated that it is impossible 
to set forth a faithful and full view of the religion of the 
Confederate army. The present writer honestly believes 
that history presents no accurate or ample parallel. The 
stern piety and invincible principles of Cromwell and his 
forces in war with Charles I of England are freely 

Term 23 


274 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


admitted and much admired, but they had no such happy 
influence on men and communities as the tender and 
refining power of the faith of the Confederate soldiers 
had on them and this country. The religious devotion of 
Havelock, John and Henry Lawrence, “Chinese” Gor¬ 
don, and other great English heroes, was circumscribed 
too greatly by conditions to produce anything like a 
national result in India and elsewhere. Even our own 
revolutionary fathers, while led by the wisdom, the 
patience, the faith and constancy of George Washington, 
to whom the world is indebted for American freedom and 
institutions, left us no such general record of religious 
fervor and faith in God as had their grand illustration 
in the armies of the Confederate States. From the incep¬ 
tion of the war between the States of the Union, chap¬ 
lains were provided for by civil authority and by the 
action of regiments, brigades and other portions of troops, 
and were enlisted with the men in all sections of the Con¬ 
federacy. Missionaries to the soldiers were commissioned 
by all the great Christian denominations, among whom 
were many of the ablest and most consecrated preachers 
in the South. It would simply be invidious to mention 
names, because of the number and influence of the men 
who were representative of the pulpit and people of all 
the churches. Many of these men worked right through 
the war from first to last, and while some dropped out, 
others died, and some were recalled, the vacancies were 
rapidly filled, additions were made from time to time, 
and the ministry of the gospel in one way or another was 
effectively continued until the surrender. The fact is, 
that the army was permeated with the power of the Chris¬ 
tian religion by preaching, by distribution of Bibles and 
religious literature, by systematic evangelization, by 
special services of all kinds, by correspondence of friends 
at home, and in other ways not essential to mention. 
Great and general earnestness among the people was 
exhibited to promote and maintain religious life and 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


275 


moral conduct among the soldiers. Regular Bible socie¬ 
ties were organized for the publication, sale and gift of 
Bibles, with a special reference to dissemination in the 
army. Religious newspapers were established in many 
places, and many thousands of copies were regularly circu¬ 
lated, week by week and month after month, so as to pro¬ 
vide fresh and attractive reading matter of good character 
for the noble boys who were deprived by war of all the 
privileges enjoyed in life at home. Tract societies printed 
and published tens of thousands of pages of religious 
reading, so that by one agency alone, 84,000 such pages 
were distributed and readily received and read in one 
month; millions were thus given out and used, and there 
is no possible estimate to be made of the sum total of the 
amount eventually provided, or of the good done by this 
Christian service. 

Striking facts, like the following, occurred: The 
American Bible Society, with headquarters in New York, 
made a number of donations of Bibles, 20,000 at one time, 
for our Southern soldiers, and the British and Foreign 
Bible Society of London donated through a Confederate 
agent, atone time, 10,000 Bibles, 15,000 New Testaments, 
and 250,000 parts of scriptures, and it is safe to say that 
there was no difficulty in finding readers for as many 
copies as could be brought to the armies. To give further 
impression of the work done, and to record a word of 
credit due, I quote from Rev. W.W. Bennett’s book, “The 
Great Revival in the Southern Armies,’’ who says that 
the General Association of Baptist churches in Virginia 
was the first organized body to plan for religious litera¬ 
ture to be distributed to the men in camps, and that in 
May, 1861, the second month of the war, it directed its Sun¬ 
day school and publication board to proceed at once to pro¬ 
vide and disperse through trained colporteurs the results 
of its efforts in that direction, so that Dr. Dickinson, the 
superintendent, reported at the end of one year: “We have 
collected $24,000, with which forty tracts have been pub- 


276 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


lished, 6,187,000 pages of which have been distributed, 
besides 6,095 Testaments, 13,845 copies of the little volume 
called ‘Camp Hymns,’ and a large number of religious 
books.” Giving report in 1863, the superintendent said: 

4 ‘ Modern history presents no example of armies so nearly 
converted into churches as the armies of Southern 
defense. On the crest of this flood of war which threatens 
to engulf our freedom rides a pure Christianity; the 
gospel of the grace of God shines through smoke of battle 
with the light that leads to heaven, and the camp be¬ 
comes a school of Christ. ” It was but a short time, after 
what the Baptists thus started, until Episcopalians, 
Methodists, Presbyterians, Cumberland Presbyterians and 
other denominations were vigorously pursuing the same 
pious work, and many Union organizations and individuals 
did likewise. One earnest North Carolina preacher pub¬ 
lished and gave away, by the help of friends, more than 
2,500,000 pages of tracts in less than a year, besides sell¬ 
ing at cost about the same number. This kind of benefi¬ 
cent service greatly aided the systematic labors of the min¬ 
istry of the gospel in all parts of the Confederacy, and as 
the mighty conflict of war deepened, most powerful and 
practical results followed in the conversion of many thou¬ 
sand soldiers to Christ as their Savior, among whom were 
hundreds of officers, from the rank of general down to 
that of corporal of the guard. 

Let it here be recorded that an institution was estab¬ 
lished in accord with all these religious movements, which 
seems to have been a sort of culmination of the grand 
denominational and other enterprises for the promotion 
of morals, intelligence, good order and Christianity in the 
Confederacy. That was the organization or covenant 
known among all the army ministers as ‘‘The Army 
Church. ’ ’ In brief, it was agreed by men of different 
denominations that administration of sacraments and 
reception of men into the fellowship of the church would 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


277 


be recognized by all ministers as authoritative and accept¬ 
able. This had a fine effect, and promoted union and 
earnestness in the cause of religion. 

In illustration of what is meant, on one occasion the 
Rev. W. Burr of Tennessee, a Methodist minister, held 
services and men were converted whom he received in 
communion of the churches, and afterward reported his 
work, part of which was to the writer of these lines, who, 
as a Cumberland Presbyterian minister, accepted the 
names given to him as if they came from a pastor of his 
own denomination. This course was pursued in a great 
many instances, and besides the benefit derived from 
influence exerted on the new converts, many other happy 
effects resulted from the work of the Army Church, among 
which may be mentioned that of the wide extension of 
the spirit of Christian charity and co-operation ever since 
the war. Many a brave soul lived to get home after the 
surrender, to report for duty in the warfare with sin and 
all wrong, having been equipped for it by his enlistment 
during the war in the South in the army of the King of 
Kings. 

The following creed was adopted by one section of the 
Army Church, and it presents an excellent view of the 
existing conditions in spirit and comprehensive thought. 
It is copied from “The Army and Navy Herald,” Febru¬ 
ary 15, 1864: 

Articles of Faith and Constitution of the Church of 
the Army, Trans-Mississippi: 

The Christian men in the army, believing that the hab¬ 
itation of God by His spirit constitutes the Church, agree, 
for their edification and for the conversion of their fellow- 
men, to organize the Church of the Army, with the fol¬ 
lowing articles of faith and constitution: 

I. We believe the scriptures of the Old and New 
Testament to be the word of God, the only rule of faith 
and obedience. 

II. We believe in one God: the Father, the Son, and 
the Holy Ghost, the same in substance, equal in power 
and glory. 


278 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


III. We believe in the fall in Adam, the redemption by 
Christ, and the renewing of the Holy Spirit. 

IV. We believe in justification by faith alone, and there¬ 
fore receive and rest upon Christ as our only hope. 

V. We believe in the communion of saints and the 
doctrine of eternal rewards and punishments. 

The Christian men who have been baptized, adopting 
these articles of faith and constitution in each regiment, 
shall choose ten officers to take the spiritual oversight of 
the same. Of the officers so elected, the chaplain, or 
one chosen by themselves for that purpose, shall act as 
moderator. The officers will meet once a month and 
oftener, if necessary, and in the exercise of discipline will 
be guided by the directions of Christ. They will keep a 
record of the names of all the members and the manner 
in which their ecclesiastical connection with this Church 
is dissolved. 

Some features of the religious state in the army were 
full of interest. Sunday-schools and Young Men’s Chris¬ 
tian Associations were organized and carried on with 
marked results in many regiments. The men took deep 
interest in the study of the Bible, and not only did chap¬ 
lains and missionaries conduct the meetings, but many 
officers and privates acted as officers and teachers in the 
classes and services. Discussions of scripture truth became 
thoroughly interesting and full of instruction. This 
gave subjects of conversation for the camp, the bivouac, 
and the march, and without doubt suggested thought and 
comfort in the hour of pain and weakness as the result of 
battle. Sympathetic services of prayer were held in regi¬ 
ments, company by company, besides the regular public 
worship on Sundays for the whole regiment. Separate 
Bible classes of congenial spirits were formed and con¬ 
ducted. At least one instance is noted of an anti-swear¬ 
ing association formed, that in the Third battalion of Vir¬ 
ginia reserves. The prevailing influence led to a large 
cessation of profanity, gambling, and even of card play¬ 
ing. It is not surprising that schools were held in which 
soldiers learned to read and write, but it is astonishing 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


279 


that men actually studied for the ministry of the gospel 
amid such scenes as the soldier’s life daily presented. 
This occurred both in camp and in prison. It was a grand 
thing to witness the lives of such men as Lieut.-Gen. 
A. P. Stewart of Tennessee, and Brigadier-General 
Lowrey of Mississippi, whose religion was so practical 
that they not only lived worthily, but the former, as an 
elder in his church, assisted the ministers in conducting 
communion services, distributing the sacramental ele¬ 
ments, leading in prayer, addressing the men in exhorta¬ 
tion, etc., and the latter, as a minister himself, preached 
to his men, instructed inquirers, baptized believers, and 
gave all practicable aid to his chaplains and their work. 
These are only examples of the conduct of leaders. 

It was always an important occasion when the army 
went into winter quarters, for then there was every 
opportunity for much religious work. Those of us who par¬ 
ticipated in it can never forget the excellent spirit which 
prompted the general and regimental officers to make 
details of men to fell, saw up, hew and adapt trees, rive 
boards, prepare timbers as needed, and build churches and 
chapels for regimental and brigade worship. Large shel¬ 
ters on posts and beams, open all around, were provided 
in places for brigade services, where in good weather 
great audiences gathered, and where series of meetings 
were held in which thousands were converted to Christ. 
In the summer of 1863, while the army of Tennessee 
under General Bragg was resting and recruiting along the 
base of Missionary ridge near Chattanooga, Wright’s bri¬ 
gade of Tennesseeans made a large brush arbor, where the 
three chaplains in that command, Rev. W. H. Browning, 
Tilman Page and the present writer, held a series of 
meetings for five weeks, in which we estimated that 225 
men became Christians, and we quit the work to enter 
upon the famous campaign which culminated in the great 
battle of Chickamauga. There is no doubt that scores 
of those converts fell in that awful conflict, heroically 


280 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


illustrating two grand principles—patriotism and piety. 
Similar Christian service was done throughout the army, 
and the effect of it was most powerful, both in the support 
it gave to fidelity to the flag of their country in all the 
perils of war to its close, and the courage it imparted to 
their tried souls in the stern, dark days which followed 
the final surrender of our arms, and through which 
Confederate soldiers, as citizens of the United States, hav¬ 
ing returned to peaceful pursuits of life at home, exempli¬ 
fied the power of Christian principle and the honor of 
exalted manhood. Looking backward over the thirty- 
three years of post-bellum history, there is no reason to 
be ashamed of the patriotism and piety of the Confederate 
soldier-citizen. 

As the present history emphasizes the part which Ten¬ 
nessee bore in the great scenes of the civil war, it is 
important to give some definite view of the service ren¬ 
dered to her 115,000 soldiers by the churches of Christ 
through their ministry. All the best enterprises carried 
forward for the army’s good were promotive of the 
welfare of Tennesseeans in common with others; but the 
specific work of preaching and holding many and mani¬ 
fold services was done by Tennessee chaplains and mis- 
sionaries with earnestness and constancy to the day ol 
surrender. The following list of names is given in the 
alphabetical order of churches as far as is known to the 
writer. Earnest efforts to procure a fuller list have failed 
of signal results. Sincere thanks are extended to Rev. 
J. H. McNeilly, D. D., and Rev. S. M. Cherry, of Nash¬ 
ville, for special favors. There may be errors in initials 
and church relations in the appended list, and it is not 
supposed to represent all, or nearly all, the religious 
influence exerted on the soldiers of the army of the Con¬ 
federate States from Tennessee, but the names given 
are those of men who gave themselves fully to the cause of 
Christ for our men in the awful conflict. Some names 
are added which represent great religious benefits to the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


281 


soldiers because of the character of the men who bore 
them in the military service of the Confederacy, although 
they were ministers. Of course, it is impracticable to 
estimate the value of Christian men in the army who 
were not preachers, because of its general effects, as 
there were many of those good men, officers and privates. 
Would that a complete roster of our chaplains and mis¬ 
sionaries could be had. 

CHAPLAINS AND MISSIONARIES. 

Baptist—W. T. Bennett, Twelfth Tennessee; C. S. 
Hearn, Fifth Tennessee; L. H. Milliken, Thirteenth 
Tennessee, chaplains. R. W. Horton, Nineteenth Ten¬ 
nessee; W. H. Whitsett, Fourth Tennessee cavalry, now 
one of the most eminent men in the church. 

Cumberland Presbyterian—B. W. McDonald, mission¬ 
ary, army of Tennessee; Aaron Burrow, Forrest’s old 
regiment cavalry; J. W. Poindexter, Sixteenth Tennes¬ 
see; E. B. Crisman, Seventeenth Tennessee; David 
Tucker, Eighth Tennessee; M. B. DeWitt, Eighth Ten¬ 
nessee; G. L. Winchester, L. Dickey, W. W. Hendrix 
(commands not known); B. M. Taylor, Twenty-third 
Tennessee. 

Methodist Episcopal South—J. B. McFerrin, mission¬ 
ary, army of Tennessee; S. M. Cherry, chaplain and mis¬ 
sionary, army of Tennessee; A. Tribble, Fourth Tennes¬ 
see ; F. E. Pitts, Eleventh Tennessee; J. A. Ellis, Twenti¬ 
eth Tennessee; R. P. Ransom, Sixteenth Tennessee, 
W. Burr, Twenty-eighth Tennessee; T. Page, Fifty-first 
Tennessee; W. H. Browning, Carter’s brigade; A. W. 
Smith, Twenty-fifth Tennessee; J. Cross, W. Mooney, 
J. P. McFerrin, J. W. Johnson, R. A. Wilson, F. A. 
Kimball, F. S. Petway, M. L. Whitten, P. G. Jamison, 
J. G. Bolton, J. W. Cullom (commands not known). 

Presbyterian—J. H. Bryson, missionary, army of Ten¬ 
nessee; W. Eagleton, R. McCoy and R. Lapsley, chap- 

Tenn 24 


282 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


lains to hospitals; J. B. Chapman, Thirty-second Ten¬ 
nessee: J. H. McNeilly, Forty-ninth Tennessee; J. B. 
Mack, Fifty-fifth Tennessee; H. B. Bonde, captain and 
chaplain. 

Protestant Episcopal—C. T. Qnintard, First Tennessee, 
and missionary, army of Tennessee, and Rev. Mr. 
Schrevar (command not known). 

MINISTERS AS OFFICERS. 

(Very imperfect list.) Col. D. C. Kelley, Methodist; 
Col. W. M. Reed, Cumberland Presbyterian; Lieut.-Col. 
J. W. Bachman, Presbyterian; Maj. J. D. Kirkpatrick, 
Cumberland Presbyterian; Adjt. W. L. Rosser, Presby¬ 
terian; Capt. W. A. Haynes, Cumberland Presbyterian. 
There was, it is thought, a Colonel Miller, Baptist, and 
many others not now remembered. These may be taken 
as examples. 



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BIOGRAPHICAL 


283 












BIOGRAPHICAL 


Brigadier-General John Adams, a gallant soldier was 
born at Nashville, July i, 1825. His father afterward 
located at Pulaski, and it was from that place that young 
Adams entered West Point as a cadet, where he was 
graduated in June, 1846. On his graduation he was com¬ 
missioned second lieutenant of the First Dragoons, then 
serving under Gen. Philip Kearny. At Santa Cruz de 
Rosales, Mexico, March 16, 1848, he was brevetted first 
lieutenant for gallantry, and on October 9, 1851, he was 
commissioned first lieutenant. In 1853 he acted as aide 
to the governor of Minnesota with the rank of lieutenant- 
colonel of State forces, this position, however, not affect¬ 
ing his rank in the regular service. He was promoted 
in his regiment to the rank of captain, November, 1856. 
May 27, 1861, on the secession of his State, he resigned 
his commission in the United States army and tendered 
his services to the Southern Confederacy. He was first 
made captain of cavalry and placed in command of the 
post at Memphis, whence he was ordered to western Ken¬ 
tucky and thence to Jackson, Miss. In 1862 he was 
commissioned colonel, and on December 29th was pro¬ 
moted to brigadier-general. On the death of Brig. -Gen. 
Lloyd Tilghman, May 16, 1863, Adams was placed by 
General Johnston in command of that officer’s brigade, 
comprising the Sixth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Twentieth, 
Twenty-third and Forty-third Mississippi regiments of 
infantry. He was in Gen. J. E. Johnston’s campaign for 
the relief of Vicksburg, in the fighting around Jackson, 
Miss., and afterward served under Polk in that State 
and marched with that general from Meridian, Miss., 
to Demopolis, Ala., thence to Rome, Ga., and forward 


285 


286 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


to Resaca, where he joined the army of Tennessee. 
He served with distinction in the various battles of 
the campaign from Dalton to Atlanta, he and his 
gallant brigade winning fresh laurels in the fierce bat¬ 
tles around the “Gate City.” After the fall of Atlanta, 
when Hood set out from Palmetto for his march into 
north Georgia in the gallant effort to force Sherman to 
return northward, Adams’ brigade was much of the time 
in advance, doing splendid service, and at Dalton captur¬ 
ing many prisoners. It was the fate of General Adams, 
as it was of his friend and classmate at West Point, Gen. 
Geo. E. Pickett, to reach the height of his fame leading his 
men in a brilliant and desperate, but unsuccessful, charge. 
But he did not come off so well as Pickett; for in the 
terrific assault at Franklin, Adams lost his life. Though 
wounded severely in his right arm near the shoulder early 
in the fight and urged to leave the field* he said: “No; 
I am going to see my men through.” He fell on the 
enemy’s works, pierced with nine bullets* His brigade 
lost on that day over 450 in killed and wounded, among 
them many field and line officers. Lieut.-Col. Edward 
Adams Baker, of the Sixty-fifth Indiana infantry, who 
witnessed the death of General Adams at Franklin, 
obtained the address of Mrs. Adams many years after the 
war and wrote to her from Webb City, Mo. This letter 
appeared in the Confederate Veteran of June, 1897, 
an excellent magazine of information on Confederate 
affairs, and is here quoted: “General Adams rode up to 
our works and, cheering his men, made an attempt to leap 
his horse over them. The horse fell upon the top of the 
embankment and the general was caught under him, 
pierced with bullets. As soon as the charge was repulsed, 
our men sprang over the works and lifted the horse, 
while others dragged the general from under him. He 
was perfectly conscious and knew his fate. He asked for 
water, as all dying men do in battle as the life-blood drips 
from the body. One of my men gave him a canteen of 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


287 


water, while another brought an armful of cotton from an 
old gin near by and made him a pillow. The general 
gallantly thanked them, and in answer to our expressions 
of sorrow at his sad fate, he said, ‘ It is the fate of a 
soldier to die for his country,’ and expired.” The wife 
of General Adams was Miss Georgia McDougal, daughter 
of a distinguished surgeon of the United States army. 
She was in every way worthy to be the wife of so gallant 
a man. Though left a widow with four sons and two 
daughters, she reared them, under all the severe trials 
of that sad period, to be useful men and women. 

Brigadier-General Samuel R. Anderson, of Nashville, 
when Tennessee began to make ready for war, was 
made major-general in the army of the State, May 9, 
1861, and upon the transfer of the troops to the Confeder¬ 
ate government he accepted the position of brigadier- 
general in the provisional army of the Confederate States, 
being commissioned July 9, 1861. He commanded a 
splendid brigade, consisting of the First, Seventh and 
Fourteenth Tennessee infantry and one company of Ten¬ 
nessee cavalry. This brigade was assigned to the division 
of General Loring in West Virginia during the summer 
and fall of 1861. One of his colonels, George Mancy of 
the First Tennessee, after serving with distinction in 
Virginia was transferred to the western field of operations, 
and as brigadier-general did valiant work in the army of 
Tennessee, from Shiloh to the close of the Atlanta cam¬ 
paign. Another colonel, Robert Hatton of the Seventh 
Tennessee, also became a brigadier-general, succeeding 
Anderson in brigade command, and was killed at the bat¬ 
tle of Seven Pines. General Anderson commanded his 
brigade during the movements in western Virginia from 
August to November, 1861; and from December, 1861, to 
March, 1862, under the renowned Stonewall Jackson. In 
August, 1861, Gen. Robert E. Lee was sent to command 
in West Virginia. He went to work with great vigor to 


288 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


get his army ready for an offensive campaign. But heavy 
rains set in, which in that mountainous region soon ren¬ 
dered roads impassable. All sorts of camp diseases, such 
as measles, typhoid and intermittent fever, broke out and 
prostrated at least one-third of the soldiers. Camp and 
picket duty bore heavily on those who were well. -But 
the Federal army was enduring the same hardships and 
had no advantage over the Confederates in that respect. 
So Lee ordered Loring’s troops from Huntersville and 
Henry R. Jackson’s brigade from Greenbrier river to 
assail the Federal garrison on Cheat mountain. The 
battle, however, did not come off, on account of the fail¬ 
ure of Colonel Rust to open the fight at the time intended. 
The fall passed away in the routine duties of guard and 
picket service, marching and countermarching. In the 
winter, Anderson was called upon to join the forces of 
Stonewall Jackson near Winchester, and he participated 
in the campaign to Hancock, Bath and Romney. Subse¬ 
quently he commanded the brigade on the Peninsula 
under General Magruder, until in March he withdrew 
from active service and soon afterward resigned his com¬ 
mission, but continued to labor in other capacities for the 
success of the cause. His brigade gained fame under the 
leadership of General Archer. On November 4, 1864, he 
was recommissioned brigadier-general. 

Brigadier-General Frank C. Armstrong, in 1854, accom¬ 
panied his stepfather, Gen. Persifer Smith, upon an expe¬ 
dition of United States troops into New Mexico. He was 
then a handsome youth of twenty years, six feet tall, 
straight as an arrow, and the ideal of a daring young cav¬ 
alryman. As the party were nearing Eagle Spring a de¬ 
tachment was made under John G. Walker to punish some 
Indian marauders, and Armstrong was so distinguished in 
the fight which resulted that he was reported to the war 
department, and got a lieutenancy of cavalry without the 
ordinary four years of preparation at West Point. With- 



Brig.-Gen. Geo. G. Dibrell. Brig. -Gen. Wm.H. Carroll. 

Brie- -Gen Tyree H. Bell. Brig.-Gen. John W. Frazer. Brig.-Gen. Sam l R. Anderson. 

Brlfi-S: Frank C. Armstrong. Brig -Gen. John Adams. Brig -Gen. A. E. Jackson. 

Maj.-Gen. John Calvin Brown. Maj.-Gen. Wm. B. Bate. 







CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 289 

drawing from the United States service in 1861, he 
accompanied Col. James McIntosh in the march of his 
force from Arkansas into the Indian country, and partici¬ 
pated in the battle of Chustenahlah, in the Cherokee 
nation, December 26, 1861, in which the power of the 
Union chief Hopoeithleyohola was broken, serving as a 
volunteer aide on the staff of Colonel McIntosh. He 
next, with the rank of lieutenant, became assistant adju¬ 
tant-general on the staff of Gen. Ben McCulloch, his 
friend, Col. D. H. Maury, being adjutant-general on the 
staff of General Van Dorn, commanding. In the famous 
battle of Elkhorn Tavern, he was with McCulloch until 
the latter was killed, and afterward, with Lomax and 
Bradfute and other fellow staff officers, went to the assist¬ 
ance of General Van Dorn, who warmly commended their 
services in his official report. On March 17th, Van Dorn, 
in a communication to the war department, strongly 
urged the promotion of these experienced officers, declar¬ 
ing that if he could have substituted some of them for 
some of his highest commanders, he could have put the 
enemy to utter rout. After serving a time as adjutant- 
general of Steen’s Missouri brigade, Armstrong was 
elected colonel of the Third Louisiana infantry. Van 
Dorn renewed his recommendation that he be promoted 
to brigadier-general, and after the army had crossed to 
the east of the Mississippi, Gen. Sterling Price, having 
the same appreciation of the ability of the gallant young 
officer, appointed Armstrong to the command of all the 
cavalry of the army of the West, giving him, with the 
consent of General Bragg, the rank of acting brigadier- 
general. His energy and ability were soon manifest in 
the organization and increased efficiency of his command. 
On July 17th, Bragg, about to move to Chattanooga from 
Tupelo, ordered General Armstrong to advance toward 
Decatur, Ala., to cover the transfer of the army. With 
portions of the squadrons and companies of Webb, Bar- 
teau, McCulloch, Hill, Sanders, Roddey and Newsom he 

Term 25 


290 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


attacked the enemy at Courtland, Ala., July 25th, and 
won a brilliant victory, taking 133 prisoners and gaining 
possession of the fertile Tennessee valley from Decatur 
to Tuscumbia. His continued successes brought him the 
warm congratulations of General Bragg. In August, 
1862, he was sent with about 2,000 cavalry to make a 
demonstration in west Tennessee in co-operation with 
Bragg, and preparatory to Price’s advance. He crossed 
the Hatchie river, passed between Jackson and Bolivar, 
destroyed bridges and trestles on the Memphis & Charles¬ 
ton railroad, drove the Federals into Bolivar, August 30th, 
and on his return defeated their infantry, cavalry and 
artillery at Britton’s lane, near Denmark, capturing 213 
prisoners and two pieces of artillery. Said General Price: 
“The highest praise should be awarded to General Arm¬ 
strong for the prudence, discretion and good sense with 
which he conducted this expedition. ’’ His cavalry force, 
the regiments of Wirt Adams and Slemons, did gallant 
service during the fighting of Price’s army at Iuka in 
September, and on October 3d, 4th and 5th at Corinth 
and the crossing of the Hatchie, covering the retreat as 
well as providing a bridge for the transportation of the 
army. General Maury writes that to Armstrong more 
than any other officer, Price’s army owed its safe retreat 
from Iuka, and at Corinth, Armstrong found a safe retreat 
for Van Dorn’s broken command. He was promoted to 
brigadier-general January 30, 1863. Under Van Dorn he 
was one of the brigade commanders in western Tennessee 
in March, 1863, and had a conspicuous part in the victory 
at Thompson’s Station on March 25th. His brigade, under 
his command, captured the Federal garrison at Brentwood 
after a spirited fight. On April 10th he was in battle at 
Franklin, and on June 4th again attacked the Federal gar¬ 
rison there. In the organization of the cavalry corps of the 
army of Tennessee, following the Kentucky campaign, he 
commanded a brigade of Forrest’s division, consisting of 
the Third Arkansas, Second Kentucky, First Tennessee, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


291 


McDonald’s battalion and Brady’s escort company. Upon 
the organization of a corps under Forrest, he was put in 
command of a cavalry division including his brigade and 
Dibrell’s. He rendered important service after the evac¬ 
uation of Chattanooga, attached to Polk’s corps, and on 
September 20th participated in the battle of Chickamauga 
in command of his division fighting dismounted. “The 
charges made by Armstrong’s brigade while fighting on 
foot,’’ said General Forrest, “would be creditable to the 
best drilled infantry. ’’ In command of a division includ¬ 
ing the brigades of W. Y. C. Humes and C. H. Tyler, 
he was in the East Tennessee campaign with Long- 
street during the winter of 1863-64, in frequent battle, 
and was commended for gallantry by Gens. Joseph 
Wheeler and W. T. Martin. Early in February, 1864, he 
obtained leave of absence from this field with authority 
to ask for transfer to the command of Gen. S. D. Lee. 
On March 5th he was ordered to report to Lieutenant- 
General Polk at Demopolis, Ala., and was soon under the 
orders of Lee, who named him as deserving of promotion to 
major-general and becoming his own successor in division 
command. On April 4th he was assigned to the Missis¬ 
sippi brigade of W. H. Jackson’s division, consisting of 
the cavalry regiments of Pinson, Dillon, Starke and Bal- 
lentine, which was his command, with some temporary 
additions, until the close of the war. He accompanied 
Polk’s army to Georgia and served with credit in the cam¬ 
paign from Resaca to Atlanta and Jonesboro (part of the 
time in command of Jackson’s division), Hood’s north 
Georgia campaign, the advance into Tennessee, the cam¬ 
paign against Murfreesboro, and was one of the leaders 
of the heroic rear guard under Forrest after the disaster 
at Nashville. During the early months of 1865 he con¬ 
tinued in command of his brigade, and was ordered to 
Selma, Ala., March 23d, where he and his men partici¬ 
pated in the gallant defense against the overwhelming 
forces of Gen. James H. Wilson, on April 2, 1865. At 


292 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the last he was in command of the Mississippi division of 
cavalry, with headquarters at Macon. 

Major-General William Brimage Bate was born near Cas- 
talian Springs, Tenn., in the year 1830. Early in his youth 
he manifested a bold and adventurous spirit that character¬ 
ized his career as a Confederate soldier. Leaving school 
to become a clerk on a steamboat plying between Nash¬ 
ville and New Orleans, he subsequently enlisted for the 
Mexican war and served as a private in a Louisiana and 
a Tennessee regiment. On his return to Tennessee he 
was elected to the legislature by his admiring friends in 
his native county, and after this he began the study of law 
in the famous school at Lebanon. He was graduated pro¬ 
fessionally in 1852, and then made his home at Gallatin, 
the scene of his earlier efforts in the profession which has 
been honored by his intellectual ability and manly worth. 
In 1854 he was elected attorney-general of the Nashville 
district for a term of six years. That calm, masterful 
and judicious leadership for which his life has been dis¬ 
tinguished was already manifested in the political field, 
and having declined congressional honors, his name was 
put upon the Breckinridge electoral ticket. In May, 
1861, Tennessee began the official negotiations which 
promptly resulted in her league with the other Southern 
States for defense against the war being waged upon 
them, and Bate entered the military forces as a private. 
He was speedily promoted captain and then colonel of the 
Second Tennessee regiment, and during the early months 
of the conflict served at Columbus, Ky., and elsewhere, 
in the command of General Polk. His first great battle 
was at Shiloh, where he shared the work of Cleburne’s 
brigade of Hardee’s corps. Bravely leading his regiment 
in the second charge, through a murderous cross-fire, he 
fell severely wounded, a minie ball breaking his leg and 
disabling him for field service for several months. This 
participation in battle, though brief, was marked with 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


293 


such gallantry that he was mentioned with praise in the 
reports of Cleburne and Hardee, and on October 3, 1862, 
he was promoted brigadier-general. About this time, 
though still unable to return to the field, he was on garrison 
duty at Huntsville, Ala., and was given temporary com¬ 
mand of the district of Tennessee. In February, 1863, 
he was again in the field, assigned to command of Rains' 
brigade in Polk’s army, and in June, commanding the 
Ninth Alabama, Thirty-seventh Georgia, Fifteenth and 
Thirty-seventh and Twentieth Tennessee and Caswell’s 
battalion, in the division of A. P. Stewart, he took part in 
the Tullahoma campaign with much credit, fighting the 
battle of Hoover’s Gap on the 24th, driving the enemy 
back, and holding at bay the Federal advance. In this 
action he was in command of the Confederate forces, 
Stewart not arriving on the field until nightfall. Accord¬ 
ing to Rosecrans’ report, Bate delayed his army at this 
point thirty-six hours, preventing the Federals from get¬ 
ting possession of Bragg’s communications and forcing 
him to disastrous battle. General Bate and his men took 
a prominent part in the fighting at Chickamauga. They 
fired the first gun in this historic struggle on “the river of 
death,’’ driving the Federal guard from Thedford’s ford, 
in preparation for the Confederate advance. Crossing 
the stream next morning, they went into action only a 
third armed, but drove the enemy back toward the position 
subsequently held with such heroism by Virginian George 
H. Thomas, the “Rock of Chickamauga.’’ As a result 
of this first day’s fight, the brigade was fully armed with 
Enfield rifles. About 11 o’clock Sunday morning, Stewart 
threw his division again upon the enemy, the brigade of 
Brown, “followed by the gallant Clayton and indomitable 
Bate,’’ pressing on beyond the Chattanooga road and 
driving the enemy within his line of intrenchments. 
“During this charge, which was truly heroic,’’ Stewart 
reported, “General Bate and several of his staff had their 
horses killed—the second lost by General Bate that 


294 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


morning.” In the evening he again led his brigade 
in an action near Kelly’s house, in an action of 
the division, routing the enemy and capturing many 
prisoners; and finally the Eufaula artillery, attached 
to his brigade, fired the last gun of the battle. At Mis¬ 
sionary Ridge, commanding Breckinridge’s division, he 
was first on duty in the trenches at the base of the ridge, 
and later held a position on the crest near the headquarters 
of General Bragg. Fighting in a position where the whole 
magnificent panorama of the overwhelming army advanc¬ 
ing upon them was visible, his troops bravely held their 
ground until both their left and right were turned, and 
then with the personal aid of General Bragg, a second line 
was formed, which checked the headlong advance of the 
victorious Federals. General Bragg reported General 
Bate among those distinguished for coolness, gallantry 
and successful conduct through the engagements and in 
the rear guard on the retreat. He continued in division 
command, after this battle, of his own brigade, Lewis’ 
Kentuckians and Finley’s Floridians, and was commis¬ 
sioned major-general February 23, 1864. Throughout 
the Georgia campaign he commanded a division of 
Hardee’s corps, so often and so bravely in action; at 
Resaca handsomely repulsed the enemy from his front; 
at Dallas vigorously assailed Logan’s intrenched Fif¬ 
teenth Federal corps with his single division; on July 
22d led the flank movement under Hardee which 
brought on the famous “battle of Atlanta.’’ In the 
ill-fated campaign under General Hood, which brought 
General Bate and his men back to their native State, 
but with circumstances of suffering and disaster, he 
led his division, now including Jackson’s brigade, from 
Florence, Ala., November 21st; marched with Cheatham’s 
corps to Spring Hill, where he was in readiness for orders 
to attack; fought heroically at Franklin, in the desperate 
assault many of his men gaining the interior works and 
remaining there until the Federal retreat; and after 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


295 


attacking Murfreesboro in co-operation with Forrest, 
marched his men, a fourth of them barefooted, over the 
icy roads to Nashville, where upon arrival he encountered 
stragglers already in rapid retreat, indicating the disaster 
that was impending. Even under such circumstances his 
troops bravely took position, intrenched as best they 
could in such weather, and made a gallant fight against 
the Federal assault. After the supporting troops were 
driven back, he rode along his advanced line, urging the 
men to hold fast, though under fire from three directions. 
His Tennesseeans at the “angle” were almost annihilated; 
two Georgia regiments fought until surrounded; all three 
brigade commanders were captured. The military serv¬ 
ice of General Bate was closed in the spring of 1865, 
with the capitulation of the army of Tennessee. During 
the four years he had been three times severely wounded, 
and had demonstrated in a remarkably brilliant way the 
ability of the American volunteer to rise to important 
command and win renown there as well as in the ranks. 
He resumed his legal practice, making Nashville his 
home. As he has eloquently said of the Confederate 
soldier in general, ‘ ‘ He returned home from the fields of 
disaster, vanquished but not destroyed; sorrowful, but 
not without hope; . . . the irrepressible pride and indom¬ 
itable pluck of Southern manhood were still with him, ” and 
General Bate speedily gained a lucrative practice and 
honorable fame in his profession, and a prominent place 
in political councils. In 1868 he was a delegate to the 
Democratic national convention; for twelve years he 
served on the State executive committee of his party; was 
presidential elector-at-large in 1876; and in 1882 and 1884 
was elected governor of Tennessee. At the expiration of 
this service, which is remembered as capable and dignified, 
he was elected United States senator. To this position, 
in which he was one of the most able representa¬ 
tives of the South, he was re-elected in 1893. At the 
dedication of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National 


296 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Park he was selected by the secretary of war to speak for 
the Confederates, and his words on that occasion are 
monumental in their strength and calmness, presenting in 
unassailable force the rectitude of the Confederate cause; 
while he pointed out that the “record of the heroic past, 
which, though written in the blood of civil war, yet was 
essentially American in all the glorious attributes of 
American citizenship,” is to be cherished by a united 
people. 

Brigadier-General Tyree H. Bell,one of the many gallant 
officers given by the Volunteer State to the Southern Con¬ 
federacy, entered the service as captain in the Twelfth Ten¬ 
nessee infantry, June 4, 1861, and was elected lieutenant- 
colonel, His military duties during 1861 were with the army 
under Maj. -Gen. Leonidas Polk at Columbus, Ky. He com¬ 
manded the regiment at the battle of Belmont, November 
7, 1861, the colonel being that day in command of a bri¬ 
gade. At Shiloh he was again in command of his regi¬ 
ment, Col. R. M. Russell having charge of the First 
brigade, First division, army of Mississippi. Colonel 
Russell in his report of the operations of his brigade at 
Shiloh says: “Lieutenant-Colonel Bell and Maj. R. P. 
Caldwell were distinguished by their courage and energy. 
The former had two horses shot under him. ” In July, 1862, 
Bell was promoted to colonel of the Twelfth Tennessee 
and led it in the Kentucky campaign, participating in 
the battle of Richmond, Ky. Colonel Bell after this had 
a cavalry command operating in Tennessee and Kentucky. 
He was raiding in rear of the Union army during the 
Murfreesboro campaign, and at the time of the battle of 
Chickamauga, and afterward, was busy upon the flank 
and rear of the Federal troops. On the 25th of January, 
1864, Major-General Forrest, who had assumed command 
of all the cavalry operating in north Mississippi, west 
Tennessee and Kentucky, placed Colonel Bell in com¬ 
mand of a brigade in his division, consisting of the regi- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


297 


ments of Russell, Greer, Newsom, Barteau and Wilson. 
General Forrest in his account of the battle of Fort Pil¬ 
low says: “I cannot compliment too highly the con¬ 
duct of Colonels Bell and McCulloch and the officers 
and men of their brigades which composed the forces 
of Brigadier-General Chalmers. They fought with 
courage and intrepidity, and without bayonets assaulted 
and carried one of the strongest fortifications in the 
country. ” In his report of the brilliant victory at Tisho¬ 
mingo creek, Forrest declares that General Buford “had 
abundant reason to be proud of his brigade commanders, 
Colonels Lyon and Bell, who displayed great gallantry 
during the day/’ Forrest again speaks in a compliment¬ 
ary manner of Bell at the battle of Harrisburg, in the 
Tupelo campaign, a battle in which, though repulsed, 
Forrest gained the substantial fruits of victory by break¬ 
ing up the strongest of all the Federal expeditions into 
north Mississippi during 1864. Still later, Forrest made 
an expedition along the Tennessee river in October and 
November, 1864, in which he destroyed 4 gunboats, 14 
transports, 20 barges, and over $6,700,000 of Federal 
property, besides capturing 26 pieces of artillery; and in 
this brilliant expedition Colonel Bell again won the praise 
of Forrest. He was soon afterward commissioned briga¬ 
dier-general, and he continued to act with Forrest’s 
command until the close of the war. 

Major-General John Calvin Brown was born in Giles 
county, January 6, 1827. When nineteen years of age he 
was graduated at Jackson college, Tenn., and two years 
later was admitted to the bar at Pulaski. From that time 
(1848) until May, 1861, he practiced law successfully. He 
then entered the Third infantry regiment of the provi¬ 
sional army of Tennessee as captain, and on the 16th of 
May was commissioned colonel of that regiment, which, 
with the other soldiers of Tennessee, became a part of the 
provisional army of the Confederate States upon the 

Tenn 26 


298 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


accession of Tennessee to the Southern Confederacy. 
At the battle of Fort Donelson (February 14-16, 1862) we 
find Colonel Brown commanding the Third brigade of 
General Buckner’s division, and acting a conspicuous part 
in the charge which opened the way for the retreat of 
the Confederate army to Nashville. The fact that the 
opportunity was not improved detracts nothing from the 
gallant achievement of the men who made that brilliant 
charge. When, on the 16th, the fort was surrendered, 
Colonel Brown became a prisoner of war and remained in 
the enemy’s hands for six months. Shortly after his 
exchange he was commissioned as brigadier-general 
(August 30, 1862). He participated in the Kentucky cam¬ 
paign, and was wounded at the battle of Perryville, Octo¬ 
ber 8, 1862; with his usual gallantry fought at Chicka- 
mauga, where he was again wounded, and recovered in 
time to act an heroic part at Missionary Ridge. In all the 
movements of the Dalton-Atlanta campaign he was dis¬ 
tinguished, and on the 4th of August, 1864, he was com¬ 
missioned major-general. In Hood’s gallant but disas¬ 
trous effort to retrieve the waning fortunes of the Con¬ 
federacy by his Tennessee campaign, General Brown was 
again among the foremost, commanding Cheatham’s 
division. In the fierce charge at Franklin, in which 
so many of the choicest spirits of the army of Tennessee 
laid down their lives, he was severely wounded. 
At the close of the war he resumed the practice of law 
at Pulaski, Tenn. He was a member of the constitu¬ 
tional convention which met at Nashville in 1870, and was 
elected president of that body. The next year he was 
elected governor of the State, being the first Democrat 
chosen to that position after the war. He was the second 
member of his family to be thus honored, his brother, 
Neil S. Brown, having been governor from 1847 to 1849. 
One of the leading issues of Governor Brown’s adminis¬ 
tration was the State debt, which at the beginning of his 
term amounted to $43,000,000 bonded, besides a large 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


299 


floating debt. At the close of his administration in 1875 
(he having served two terms), the bonded debt had been 
reduced to $20,000,000, the large floating debt had been 
paid, and the credit of the State had been fully re-estab¬ 
lished. After retiring from the executive office he 
engaged in various railroad enterprises, exhibiting marked 
ability in every position which he held. In 1864 he 
married Miss Bettie Childress, one of the most beautiful 
and cultured women of the South. Their elegant home 
was in Nashville. The death of General Brown occurred 
at Red Boiling Springs, Tenn., August 17, 1889. 

Brigadier-General Alexander W. Campbell entered the 
Confederate army in 1861 as colonel of the Thirty-third 
Tennessee infantry, and served in the army of General 
Polk at Columbus, Ky., during the campaign of that year. 
There was one battle in his district, at Belmont, Mo., in 
which General Grant attacked the Confederates and was 
at first successful; but upon the arrival of Confederate 
reinforcements and the renewal of the battle, was defeated 
and with difficulty made his escape. In this battle 
Colonel Campbell and his regiment were not engaged, 
being in observation on the Kentucky side of the river. 
When the armies were being concentrated for the attack 
upon Grant at Shiloh, Colonel Campbell’s regiment was 
part of the army that marched from central Kentucky, to 
Corinth, Miss. Colonel Campbell led his regiment at 
the battle of Shiloh, and at one time during the fight the 
Fifth Tennessee, Col. C. D. Venable, was also under his 
orders. Gen. Leonidas Polk, in his report of this battle, 
mentions as one of several other instances of “brilliant 
courage,” the conduct of these two regiments. The re¬ 
port says: “Shortly after they were first brought forward 
as a supporting force, they found themselves ordered to 
support two regiments of the line before them, which 
were lying down, engaging the enemy irregularly. On 
advancing, they drew the enemy’s fire over the heads of 


300 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the regiments in their front. It was of so fierce a char¬ 
acter that they must either advance or fall back. Camp¬ 
bell called to the regiments before him to charge. This 
they declined to do. He then gave orders to his own regi¬ 
ment to charge, and led them in gallant style over the 
heads of the regiments lying in advance of him, sweep¬ 
ing the enemy before him and putting them completely to 
rout. ’ ’ In this battle Colonel Campbell received a wound 
which incapacitated him for active service for several 
months. Just before the battle of Murfreesboro he was 
appointed adjutant and inspector-general on the staff of 
Gen. Leonidas Polk. This position he held during 1862 
and 1863. On the 15th of March, 1864, he was commis¬ 
sioned brigadier-general, and in this rank he commanded 
a cavalry force during the remainder of the war. 

Brigadier-General William H. Carroll was born in the 
year 1820. When Tennessee decided to cast her fortunes 
with the Confederate States, he was appointed a brigadier- 
general in the provisional army of the State of Tennessee. 
He assisted in the organization of the splendid bodies of 
troops which Tennessee turned over to the authorities at 
Richmond. On the 21st of October, 1861, he was com¬ 
missioned a brigadier-general in the army of the Confeder¬ 
ate States. His brigade was assigned to the army under 
Albert Sidney Johnston, and was for a time on duty at 
Memphis. General Johnston, becoming apprehensive 
about affairs in east Tennessee, ordered Carroll to that 
section of the State. The Unionists had risen in scattered 
bands and threatened to give much trouble, but on the 
approach of armed men under Carroll these bands dis¬ 
persed. On December 11, 1861, he issued the following 
proclamation: “The exigencies of the times requiring, as 
is believed, the adoption of the sternest measures of 
military policy, the commanding general feels called upon 
to suspend for a time the functions of the civil tribunals. 
Now, therefore, be it known that I, William H. Carroll, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


301 


brigadier-general in the Confederate army and com¬ 
mander of the post at Knoxville, do hereby proclaim 
martial law to exist in the city of Knoxville and the sur¬ 
rounding country to the distance of one mile from the 
corporate limits of said city.” General Carroll showed 
great vigor in arresting all parties that were openly dis¬ 
affected to the Confederate States. As soon as he felt 
assured that he could safely do so, he revoked the procla¬ 
mation of martial law and restored the civil authority. His 
brigade was part of the force with which General Critten¬ 
den made an attack on General Thomas not far from Mill 
Spring, Ky., January, 1862, and in the report of the 
affair by Crittenden, General Carroll was commended for 
“his dispositions and conduct during the engagement, ’* 
his “military skill and personal valor. ” Carroll’s brigade 
brought up the rear on the retreat and retired from the 
field in order. On February 1, 1863, General Carroll 
resigned his commission in the Confederate army. 

Brigadier-General John C. Carter entered the Confeder¬ 
ate service in 1861 as a captain in the Thirty-eighth Ten¬ 
nessee infantry. He was still a captain at the battle of 
Shiloh, where he won the praise of Col. R. F. Looney, com¬ 
mander of his regiment, who declared that ‘ ‘ Captain Carter 
deserved the highest praise for his great coolness and 
high courage displayed throughout the entire engagement. 
At one time he took the flag, and urging his men forward, 
rendered me great assistance in advancing the entire regi¬ 
ment. ” His promotion was rapid through the grades of 
major and lieutenant-colonel to that of colonel of the regi¬ 
ment. He had reached this latter position when, at the 
battle of Perryville, he commanded his regiment in one of 
the hottest fights of the war. Here he won fresh plaudits 
for his gallant bearing in the presence of the enemy. 
His brigade was led in this battle by Col. John H. Savage, 
and the division by Brig.-Gen. Daniel S. Donelson, of 
the right wing under Major-General Cheatham. At the 


302 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


battle of Murfreesboro, Donelson’s brigade still formed a 
part of Cheatham’s division, which took an active part in 
the grand charge which drove the Federal right a dis¬ 
tance of between three and four miles, capturing many 
prisoners, cannon, small-arms, wagons and other spoils 
of victory. In this brilliant attack Colonel Carter again 
led his regiment with his accustomed skill and courage. 
At Chickamauga, Colonel Carter commanded his regiment 
in Wright’s brigade. At the time of the battle of Mis¬ 
sionary Ridge he was with his regiment at Charleston, 
Tenn. He succeeded Gen. Marcus J. Wright in com¬ 
mand of his Tennessee brigade, and after leading it for 
some time as colonel in the Atlanta campaign, he was 
promoted to brigadier-general with temporary rank, July 
7, 1864. At Jonesboro, September 1st, he was in tem¬ 
porary command of Cheatham’s division. He led his 
brigade in Brown’s division at Franklin, November 30, 
1864, up to the enemy’s works, but fell mortally wounded 
in the charge, and gave up his life for the cause so dear 
to his heart. 

General Benjamin Franklin Cheatham.—There was no 
name in the army of Tennessee more familiar to the 
soldiers than that of Cheatham, and no officer of the Con¬ 
federate army possessed to a higher degree than he the 
affectionate regard of his men. He was born in the city 
of Nashville, October 20, 1820. He was captain of volun¬ 
teers in the Mexican war, and was distinguished in its 
severest battles. On the outbreak of the war between the 
States he espoused heartily the cause of the South and 
was appointed major-general in the provisional army of 
Tennessee, May 9, 1861. On July 9th of the same year 
he was made a brigadier-general in the provisional army 
of the Confederate States. From the very first, General 
Cheatham gained the reputation of being a brilliant 
fighter. He understood well the art of managing men. 
He was careful in looking after their comfort, and when 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


303 


it was proper to do so, carefully guarded their safety. 
But when duty required it, he was ready to face any peril 
and set before his soldiers an example of valor which they 
followed with alacrity and zeal. It is praise enough for 
his command to say that it was the equal of that led 
by the renowned Pat Cleburne. He was in many fierce 
battles and always bore a conspicuous part. In the battle 
of Belmont he led three regiments of Pillow’s force, and 
it was his movement to the enemy’s rear that won the 
day. He was commissioned major-general March io, 1862, 
and we find him on the field of Shiloh commanding the 
second division of the first corps under Leonidas Polk. 
At Perryville, Ky., it was Cheatham’s division that 
opened the fight, and throughout that hotly-contested 
battle pressed steadily forward. Again at Murfreesboro 
Cheatham’s was one of the four divisions which drove the 
Federals back a distance of between three and four miles, 
doubling them back upon their center until their line was 
at right angles to its original position. At Chickamauga 
we find Cheatham’s division attached to the right wing 
under Leonidas Polk, sustaining the reputation gained on 
so many former occasions. At the battle of Missionary 
Ridge, when the Confederate left center had been broken, 
Hardee threw a part of Cheatham’s division directly 
across the path of the advancing Federals and held the 
ground until darkness closed the fight. In all the move¬ 
ments of the army of Tennessee in 1864, Cheatham and 
his men had their full share of peril and of honor. At 
the battle of Kenesaw Mountain (June 27th), Cheatham’s 
and Cleburne’s divisions probably inflicted upon the Fed¬ 
erals a heavier loss than they suffered on any other part 
of the field. In the battles around Atlanta, Cheatham 
had command of a corps, and in the battle of July 
22d, his men captured five cannon and five stand of 
colors. In Hood’s final campaign he led his corps into 
the thickest of every fight. At the close of the war, 
Cheatham returned to the pursuits of peace, blessed with 


304 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the society of his neighbors, whose esteem and friend¬ 
ship he always enjoyed, surrounded by a lovely family 
and cheered by his noble wife. General Cheatham’s per¬ 
sonal appearance was thus described a few years after 
the war by the historian, E. A. Pollard: “General 
Cheatham is squarely and firmly built, and is noted for 
his extraordinary physical strength. He is slightly round- 
shouldered, and his weight is about two hundred pounds. 
His height is about five feet eight inches; his eyes are 
light blue, clear and expressive; his hair, light brown; his 
complexion, fair; and his moustache—he wears no other 
heard—very heavy. His forehead is broad and his face 
expressive of that imperturbable good humor which 
characterizes him not more in social life than on the battle¬ 
field. ’ ’ General Grant, who was a personal friend of his, 
offered him an appointment in the civil service, but he 
declined. He served four years as superintendent of the 
State prison. In 1885 he became postmaster at Nashville, 
a position he retained until his death, September 4, 1886. 
The love and esteem in which he was held were evi¬ 
denced by the vast attendance upon his funeral, which 
was declared at the time to be the most imposing ever 
held in Nashville. 

Brigadier-General Henry B. Davidson, a true son of 
the Volunteer State, received his appointment at the 
United States military academy as a reward for gallant 
services as a sergeant of Tennessee volunteers at the 
battle of Monterey, Mexico, September 21 to 23, 1846. 
He was graduated at West Point in 1853, and promoted 
to brevet second lieutenant of dragoons. He served at 
the cavalry school for practice, in garrison duty at Jeffer¬ 
son barracks, Mo.; on scouting duty at Fort Union 
and Albuquerque; was engaged with Apache Indians in 
a skirmish on Penasco river, New Mexico, January 18, 
1855, and again with hostile Indians in Oregon, March 
27, 1856; in the combat of the Four Lakes on September 



Brig.-Gen. J. E. Rains. Maj.-Gen. J. P. McCown. 

Brig.-Gen. George Maney. Brig.-Gen. R. C. Tyler. 

Maj.-Gen. Bushrod R. Johnson. Brig.-Gen. W. McComb. 


Brig.-Gen. T. B. Smith. 
Brig.-Gen. Wm. A. Quarles. 
Brig.-Gen. A. J. Vaughan. 






















. 







' 














. 


* 

* 



















CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


305 


i st; on the Spokane plains, September 5 th, and on 
Spokane river, September 8, 1858. He was quarter¬ 
master of First dragoons from December 5, 1858, to May 
13, 1861. Being on leave of absence when the Confed¬ 
erate war began, he resigned his commission as captain 
in the United States army and entered the service of 
the Confederate States, actuated by a sense of duty to 
his native State, whose command he felt bound to obey. 
Reporting to the Richmond government, he was assigned 
in 1862 to the command of the post at Staunton, Va., 
with the rank of colonel. In August, 1863, he was com¬ 
missioned brigadier-general, and early in 1864 he was at 
Rome, Ga., in command of a cavalry brigade belonging 
to Wheeler’s corps. On the 17th of May, as the enemy 
was approaching Rome, Ector’s brigade of French’s 
division, supported by the cavalry of Ross, Morgan and 
Davidson, had quite a spirited affair, in which Davidson 
attacked the enemy on the right, driving in their skir¬ 
mishers. General Davidson did not long remain in 
Georgia, but was sent back to Virginia and assigned to 
the command of a brigade of cavalry attached to the 
division of General Lomax, operating in the valley under 
General Early. This brigade consisted of the First 
Maryland and the Nineteenth, Twentieth, Forty-sixth 
and Forty-seventh Virginia battalions of cavalry. After 
the war, General Davidson moved to the city of New 
Orleans, of which he was deputy sheriff, 1866 and 1867. 
From 1878 to 1886 he was inspector of United States 
public works at San Pedro, Cal. In 1887 he was , 
appointed deputy secretary of state of California. 

Brigadier-General George Gibbs Dibrell was born in 
White county, Tenn., April 12, 1822. After receiving a 
common school education, which was supplemented by 
one year at the East Tennessee university, he engaged 
for a while in farming and then in mercantile pursuits. 

In 1861 he was elected to the Tennessee convention as a 

Tenn 27 


306 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Union delegate. But when his native State at last 
decided on secession, like most of those who held similar 
views, he obeyed the voice of the majority and was 
among the first to enlist under the banner of the new 
Confederacy. He entered the service as a private, but 
was elected lieutenant-colonel of his regiment, receiving 
his commission as such, August io, 1861. In September 
of the same year he was commissioned colonel of partisan 
rangers. In the reports of the movements of Forrest’s 
command, we find Colonel Dibrell’s name favorably men¬ 
tioned on many occasions. In one of many brilliant affairs 
in which Dibrell’s regiment participated, Col. R. G. Inger- 
soll is mentioned as one of the captives. In March, 1863, 
General Bragg requested Forrest to send a force to defend 
the manufacturing establishments at Tuscumbia and 
Florence, Ala., against Federal raiders. Colonel 
Dibrell’s command was detached for this purpose, and 
on March 25th, near Florence, he defeated two Union 
gunboats and a body of raiders. During the summer 
campaign of 1863, when Rosecrans was trying to maneu¬ 
ver Bragg out of Tennessee, Forrest sent Dibrell to rein¬ 
force Wheeler. Near Sparta, Tenn., they had a fierce 
fight with the enemy, which, after varied fortune, was 
finally decided in favor of the Confederates, who chased 
their opponents for several miles and then returned to 
camp. They found to their delight that the ladies of 
Sparta had cooked and sent to the camp a fine breakfast 
for the entire command. On the 26th of July, 1864, 
Colonel Dibrell received well-merited promotion and 
was commissioned brigadier-general of cavalry. He 
continued to sustain his high reputation in the campaigns 
of Forrest and afterward of Wheeler. Toward the close 
of the war he served in North Carolina. After the fall of 
Richmond and the surrender of Lee’s army he had charge 
for a while of the Confederate archives. After the long 
agony of war had ended he returned to his native State. 
In 1870 he served in the Tennessee constitutional con- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


307 


vention. He was twice elected to Congress, and served 
from 1875 t0 i8 79 - At Sparta, Tenn., in September, 
1883, General Dibrell’s old cavalry command organized 
a brotherhood, officered with members of his old regi¬ 
ment, the Eighth Tennessee. At their second meeting, 
held at Gainesboroin 1884, the following commands were 
added to the organization: The Eighth, Sixteenth, Seven¬ 
teenth, Twenty-fifth, Twenty-eighth and Thirty-fifth 
Tennessee infantry and Colms’ battalion, Hamilton’s, 
Bledsoe’s and Bennett’s battalions of cavalry. General 
Dibrell commanded this “reunion brigade’’ up to his 
death in 1886, and never failed to attend its meetings. 

Major-General Daniel S. Donelson was born in Ten¬ 
nessee in 1802. He entered the United States military 
academy in 1821, and four years later was graduated and 
promoted to second lieutenant of the Third artillery. 
He resigned January 22, 1826. From 1827 to 1829 he was 
brigade major of the Tennessee militia, and brigadier- 
general from 1829 to 1834. From 1841 to 1843 he was a 
member of the house of representatives of the State of 
Tennessee, and again from 1855 to 1861, being speaker of 
the house. He was a planter in Sumter county, 1826 to 
1834, and in Florida Territory, 1834 to 1836, then return¬ 
ing to Tennessee and continuing planting until 1861. 
When Tennessee resolved to secede from the Union he 
offered his services, and in May, 1861, was made a briga¬ 
dier-general of the State forces. On July 9th he was 
commissioned in the same rank in the army of the Con¬ 
federate States. He commanded a brigade in West Vir¬ 
ginia under General Loring in 1861, and at the beginning 
of 1862 was sent to Charleston, S. C. He was ordered 
to the western army under Bragg, at Tupelo, and there 
had command of the First brigade of the Second division 
of the First army corps. At the battle of Murfreesboro 
he commanded the First brigade of Cheatham’s division 
and was in the celebrated charge which broke to pieces 


308 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the whole right wing of the Federal army. On January 
17, 1863, he was assigned to command of the department 
of East Tennessee, and was succeeded in brigade com¬ 
mand by Gen. M. J. Wright. In the important region of 
which he was given charge as the successor of Gen. 
E. Kirby Smith, he had under his orders the brigades of 
General Grade, Colonel Palmer, Gen. A. E. Jackson, 
Gen. John Pegram, Gen. Humphrey Marshall, and scat¬ 
tered organizations. General Donelson was promoted to 
major-general while in command of this department, but 
soon afterward he died at Knoxville, April 17, 1863. 
In general orders, April 24th, General Bragg said: “The 
general commanding announces to the army the death of 
Brig.-Gen. D. S. Donelson. He died in the department 
of East Tennessee, which he had commanded. The 
regret with which his death is announced will be felt by 
the army and his country. He was an educated soldier, 
of great purity of character, singleness of purpose, and 
goodness of heart. Conspicuous for gallantry on the 
field, after the excitement had passed he was foremost in 
providing for the wants of his command, and devoted to 
the sick and wounded. His comrades in this army, and 
those who served under his orders, will long remember 
his deeds and virtues. ’ ’ 

Brigadier-General John W. Frazer was a native of Ten¬ 
nessee, and was appointed to the United States military 
academy from Mississippi. At his graduation in 1849 he 
was promoted to brevet second lieutenant. He served 
in garrison at Fort Columbus, N. Y.; on frontier duty at 
San Miguel, Cal., and at Bernicia and Camp Far West in 
the same State; in garrison at Fort Monroe, Va., and 
on recruiting service until 1857; and then as captain, 
Ninth infantry, at Fort Simcoe and Fort Colville, Wash¬ 
ington. He resigned his commission March 15, 1861, 
and entered the Confederate service with the rank in the 
regular army of captain of infantry. When the Eighth 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


309 


Alabama was organized, Captain Frazer was appointed 
by the war department, lieutenant-colonel. After serv¬ 
ing with this regiment a while, he resigned to take the 
position of colonel of the Twenty-eighth Alabama. This 
regiment reached Corinth, Miss., after the battle of Shi¬ 
loh ; was first under fire in a skirmish at Corinth; was 
with Bragg in the Kentucky campaign, and under the 
command of Colonel Frazer was slightly engaged at 
Munfordville, Ky. Subsequently he resigned, and on 
May 19, 1863, was commissioned brigadier-general 

and sent into east Tennessee, where his command 
consisted of the Fifty-fifth Georgia, Sixty-second and 
Sixty-fourth North Carolina, and Rains’ battery. He had 
charge of Cumberland Gap in September, when the 
Union arm} 7 under Burnside approached that post. Gen¬ 
eral Frazer, finding that Knoxville had been occupied by 
the Union forces and that General Buckner had been 
obliged to retreat toward Chattanooga, knowing that the 
force of the enemy was greatly superior, surrendered to 
General Burnside on September 9, 1863. He was at 
first somewhat censured, but when all the facts were 
made known was exonerated. After the war he became 
a merchant and planter in Memphis. 

Brigadier-General George W. Gordon, one of the 
youngest of the Confederate general officers, was born 
in Giles county, Tenn. He was graduated at the 
Western military institute at Nashville in 1859. 
At the outbreak of the civil war he entered the 
service of his native State as drill-master for the Eleventh 
Tennessee infantry, which with other troops was soon 
after turned over to the Confederate authorities. He 
was successively made captain, then lieutenant-colonel, 
and finally colonel of this regiment (December, 1862). 
While serving in east Tennessee in the summer of 1862 
he was captured at Tazewell, but being soon exchanged 
he participated in the Kentucky campaign. Just after 


310 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


receiving his commission as colonel he led his men in the 
fierce battle of Murfreesboro. In this engagement he 
was again captured, but was back with his command at 
the battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge, win¬ 
ning fresh laurels on these famous fields. In Cheatham’s 
division during the arduous Dalton-Atlanta campaign, he 
and his men sustained their reputation for valor and 
efficiency, and on August 15, 1864, he was commissioned 
brigadier-general, succeeding A. J. Vaughan. He com¬ 
manded his brigade at Jonesboro, and in the fearful battle 
at Franklin on the afternoon of November 30, 1864, in 
which fell the flower of the army of Tennessee, Gordon 
led his brigade in an impetuous charge upon the Federal 
works, he and his men being the first to reach the para¬ 
pet and pierce the enemy’s lines. But such masses of 
Federals were poured upon them at this point that they 
were forced back over the parapet, Gordon and some of 
his men having held on so stoutly as to be captured by 
the enemy within their lines. He remained a prisoner 
of war until August, 1865, and was then released on 
parole. Returning home, General Gordon took up the 
practice of law. In 1883 he was appointed one of the 
railroad commissioners of Tennessee. In 1885 he was 
appointed to a position in the interior department of the 
United States government, and served four years among 
the western Indians. In 1892 he became superintendent 
of the public schools of the city of Memphis. 

Brigadier-General Robert Hatton.—The civil war 
developed the fact that many men who have never known 
any but peaceful pursuits are fitted, when occasion 
demands, to become leaders of men, and to show upon 
the battlefield those talents which belong to the trained 
soldier. Some of the most prominent and successful 
soldiers developed by the war were civilians who, until 
the outbreak of that tremendous struggle, never had 
dreamed of their own talent for military affairs. One of 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


311 


these citizen-soldiers was Robert Hatton of Tennessee, 
who was born in Sumter county in 1827. He received 
his education at Harvard, then studied law, and was 
admitted to the bar in 1849. A gentleman of high cul¬ 
ture and social standing, his success in his profession was 
steady and rapid. He was elected a member of the Ten¬ 
nessee house of representatives in 1856, and two years 
later was elected to the Congress of the United States. 
When the long sectional quarrel flamed out at last into 
civil war, he ranged himself with his native State on the 
side of the South. He joined the Confederate army and 
was made colonel of the Seventh Tennessee. In July, 
1861, his regiment was ordered with other commands to 
Staunton, Va., where we find him on the 28th of that 
month. It was just after the great victory of the First 
Manassas, when the whole South was wild with joy over 
its wonderful triumph, and the ambition of every South¬ 
ern soldier was to join the victorious army led by Joe 
Johnston and Beauregard and move at once upon Wash¬ 
ington. But affairs had not gone well in West Virginia, 
and an effort was to be made to recover what had been 
lost in that region. Hatton’s regiment was assigned to 
S. R. Anderson’s brigade and placed under Loring’s 
command in West Virginia. There they participated in 
the Cheat Mountain campaign, prolific in marches and 
hardships, making a splendid training school for new 
soldiers. Though the scheme for bringing on a great 
and decisive battle at Cheat mountain miscarried, there 
was just enough of danger connected with operations in 
that quarter to give the men a taste of soldier life. 
When toward the last of December, Loring’s command, 
marching back across the mountains and through the 
Shenandoah valley, joined Stonewall Jackson at Win¬ 
chester, they had additional lessons in the duties of a sol¬ 
dier. The winter campaign of Jackson to Bath, Han¬ 
cock and Romney, in January, involved as much genuine 
hardship as any of the whole war, and but for the inter- 


312 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ference of the war department, Jackson always claimed, 
would have been productive of permanent good to the 
Confederacy. The Seventh regiment was next ordered 
to the army under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. On May 
21, 1862, Colonel Hatton was commissioned brigadier- 
general. Ten days later, on the field of Seven Pines, in 
command of the First, Seventh and Fourteenth Tennes¬ 
see, afterward Archer’s brigade, he met a soldier’s death 
while leading his brigade into the spirited fight by the 
forces under Gen. G. W. Smith, in which Gen. J. J. Pet¬ 
tigrew was wounded and captured, and Wade Hampton 
seriously wounded. General Smith said in his report: 
“The personal bearing and conduct of the lamented Gen¬ 
eral Hatton upon the field were gallant, noble and true to 
his high social and official character. He fell while 
bravely and skillfully leading his brigade in the extreme 
front of the battle. ’ ’ 

Brigadier-General Benjamin J. Hill was commissioned 
colonel of the Thirty-fifth Tennessee upon its organiza¬ 
tion in September, 1861. During the first four months 
this regiment had very little hard service, but with the 
spring of 1862 came the stern realities of war with all its 
horrors. The regiment, now known as the Fifth Ten¬ 
nessee, was in Gen. Pat Cleburne’s brigade at the battle 
of Shiloh, and when Cleburne was in the presence of the 
enemy there was sure to be sharp work. In this battle, 
Hill commanded for a time the left of Cleburne’s brigade 
and several other regiments, and was highly commended 
for his gallantry. During the Kentucky campaign of 
1862 Cleburne commanded a division, and at the battle 
of Richmond, Ky., Colonel Hill commanded Cleburne’s 
brigade to the complete satisfaction of that officer, which 
is praise enough. This was the first brigade to strike the 
enemy at Richmond, and from the first volley until the 
close of that victorious day its progress was onward. At 
Murfreesboro, Colonel Hill, again in command of his regi- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


313 


ment, Lucius Polk commanding the brigade, was with 
Cleburne’s division in the very hottest part of the battle. 
At Chickamauga the gallant colonel won from Lieut. - 
Gen. D. H. Hill the following tribute: “The extraordi¬ 
nary merit of Colonel Hill of the Thirty-fifth Tennessee 
came under my personal observation. This noble officer 
has been distinguished on many a hard-fought field, and 
has been content with a subordinate position, provided 
he can serve his country.” At Missionary Ridge, 
Cleburne’s division not only held its ground, but 
charged the enemy and captured prisoners and colors. 
In this battle, Colonel Hill commanded the Thirty-fifth 
and Forty-eighth Tennessee regiments. During part of 
1863 and 1864 he was general provost-marshal of the 
army of Tennessee. In the Atlanta campaign he was 
part of the time provost-marshal, and then again at the 
head of the Thirty-fifth Tennessee, which shared in the 
hard marching, watching and fighting of the Atlanta 
campaign, and toward the last was assigned to Granbury’s 
brigade. During the Tennessee campaign of General 
Hood, Colonel Hill commanded a cavalry force and 
co-operated with Forrest in the siege of Murfreesboro. In 
the latter part of the year he was promoted to brigadier- 
general, his commission being dated November 30, 1864. 
At Decatur, Ala., on April 23, 1865, he was in battle with 
a portion of Wilson’s command. General Hill died at 
McMinnville, Tenn., on January 5, 1880. 

Major-General W. Y. C. Humes.—It is interesting to 
note how many men during the protracted struggle 
which began in April, 1861, and ended in April, 1865, rose 
from the lower grades to be general officers. It is diffi¬ 
cult for those who have never passed through such scenes 
to realize the indifference to danger which many men 
exhibited. Nearly the whole population of the South 
capable of bearing arms were from first to last 
brought into the field, and men learned to look upon dan- 

Tcnn 28 


314 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ger and death as matters that could not be helped. Just 
as men strive to win their way in business by diligent 
application to duty, so men strove to win their way to 
promotion by proving themselves efficient and bold in 
battle. Maj.-Gen. W. Y. C. Humes of Tennessee 
entered the Confederate army as a lieutenant of artillery, 
and in June, 1861, was commissioned captain of that 
branch of the service in the army of the Confederate 
States. General McCown, in one of his reports from New 
Madrid Bend, bears this testimony to his worth: ‘ ‘ Captain 
Humes, commanding artillery on the island, deserves 
commendation for his energy and proper bearing.” He 
was with the force that was captured at Island No. io. 
After being exchanged, he entered the cavalry service 
and rose rapidly until we find him a brigadier-general, 
November 16, 1863, commanding a brigade of cavalry in 
Wheeler’s corps. During the Atlanta campaign he com¬ 
manded a division of cavalry, one of the best. Through¬ 
out the whole campaign from Dalton to Atlanta the cav¬ 
alry were kept busy, sometimes guarding the flank of the 
army, at times making raids to the rear of the enemy, and 
at other times meeting Federal raiders and defeating 
them. No army ever had a more splendid body of cav¬ 
alry than that of the army of Tennessee in 1864. When 
Hood marched into Tennessee, Wheeler’s splendid cav¬ 
alry corps accompanied him until he crossed the Tennes¬ 
see. Then Forrest with his corps of cavalry took Wheel¬ 
er’s place, and the latter returned into Georgia with his 
troops to harass and impede the march of Sherman as 
much as possible. Twice these brave horsemen saved 
Augusta from the fate of Atlanta and Columbia; once by 
repelling the Federal cavalry near Waynesboro, and after¬ 
ward by a decisive defeat of Kilpatrick at Aiken, S. C. 
Humes with his division formed a part of Wheeler’s force 
during this period also. He was again with the army of 
Tennessee in the Carolinas, and participated in the last 
battle fought by that army at Bentonville. In March, 


315 


CONFEDERATE*MILITARY HISTORY. 

1865, he was commissioned major-general. He had com¬ 
manded a division for more than a year. After the 
return of peace, General Humes settled in Huntsville, 
Ala., where he died September 12, 1883. 

Brigadier-General Alfred E. Jackson, in 1861, was 
quartermaster of Zollicoffer’s brigade, and very active in 
collecting supplies for the soldiers and whatever things 
needed for their full equipment, in which duty he 
was very efficient. During 1862 he served in the depart¬ 
ment of East Tennessee under Gen. E. Kirby Smith, and 
proved himself so capable that he was commissioned 
brigadier-general, and on February 9, 1863, was assigned 
to the military department of East Tennessee, then com¬ 
manded by General Donelson. In this region he had 
command of a brigade under Donelson and Maury, and 
was kept on the alert against raiding parties of the enemy. 
On the 7th of September, 1863, when all the available Con¬ 
federate forces had been ordered to Bragg at Chattanooga, 
and after Burnside with his army corps had occupied 
Knoxville, about 500 Federal infantry advanced as far as 
Telford’s depot in Washington county. A small force of 
Confederates under Gen. Alfred E. Jackson was in the 
upper corner of northeast Tennessee. Col. Henry L. 
Giltner, of the Fourth Kentucky cavalry, with a small 
body of troops occupied the department of southwestern 
Virginia. When Jackson and Giltner heard of this ad¬ 
vance of the detachment from Burnside’s army, they 
united their forces and under Jackson’s command marched 
to attack the Federals. They encountered the Union 
troops with about equal numbers on the 8th of September 
at Telford’s depot. After a short but sharp engagement, 
in which they lost 60 killed and wounded, while 100 suc¬ 
ceeded in making their escape, the remaining 350 Federals 
finding retreat cut off, surrendered. On the theater of 
Jackson’s operations there was a good deal of this sort of 
detachment work in which there was plenty of marching 


316 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


and fighting, but very little chance for renown, because the 
great battles so obscured the small affairs that in many parts 
of the country they were never even heard of. In October, 
under Gen. John S. Williams, he took a gallant part in the 
victory at Greeneville, east Tennessee. His command 
was included in Ransom’s division during Longstreet’s 
operations in east Tennessee. On November 23, 1864, 
being unfit for active service in the field, he was ordered to 
report temporarily to General Breckinridge. After the 
war had ended, General Jackson, like the thousands of 
other citizen-soldiers, returned quietly to the pursuits of 
peace. On October 30, 1889, he died at Jonesboro, Tenn. 

Brigadier-General William H. Jackson, one of the most 
prominent living soldiers of Tennessee, was born at Paris, 
Tenn., October 7, 1835. At twenty-one years he was grad¬ 
uated at the United States military academy (1856), and 
assigned as brevet second lieutenant to the mounted 
riflemen. In December of the same year he was com¬ 
missioned second lieutenant while serving at the cavalry 
school for practice at Carlisle, Pa. He was on frontier 
duty at Fort Bliss, Tex., 1857, and in December of that 
year was engaged in a skirmish against the Kiowa Indians 
near Fort Craig, N. M. In 1859 he was engaged in 
scouting in the Navajo country, and took part in the 
Comanche and Kiowa expedition of i860. On May 16, 
1861, in obedience to the command of his State, he re¬ 
signed his commission in the United States army and 
entered the service of the Confederate States as captain 
of artillery. In the battle of Belmont, November 7, 1861, 
he acted as aide on the staff of General Pillow, and was 
seriously wounded while executing that officer’s orders. 
His name is flatteringly mentioned in the reports of Gen¬ 
erals Polk and Pillow and of Col. S. F. Marks, who, at the 
request of Colonel Barrow, tendered the thanks of the 
Eleventh Louisiana regiment to Capt. Wm. H. Jackson 
for valuable and gallant service rendered them. This 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


317 


gallant young officer was in the field again early in 1862 
as colonel of the First Tennessee cavalry, winning com¬ 
pliments from his superior officers in every affair in which 
he was engaged. His name is mentioned in all the 
reports, and by his merit as chief of cavalry in Pember¬ 
ton’s department he richly earned the commission of brig¬ 
adier-general, which was bestowed upon him December 
29, 1862. He had acted as chief of cavalry for Van Dorn 
and Price in the campaign which culminated in the battle 
of Corinth. On the retreat from that disastrous field he 
had well protected the rear of the Confederate army. 
He increased his already high reputation throughout the 
Vicksburg campaign, and after its disastrous close he was 
indefatigable in his labors and rendered invaluable assist¬ 
ance to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. In the Meridian cam¬ 
paign of February, 1864, Jackson commanded the cavalry 
of Polk’s army, hanging upon the flanks of the enemy 
and compelling his foragers to keep close to the main line. 
During the Atlanta campaign, Jackson commanded the 
cavalry corps of the army of the Mississippi, which par¬ 
ticipated in all the arduous labors and many brilliant suc¬ 
cesses of the cavalry arm of the Confederate service. 
When, after the brilliant cavalry victory at Newnan, 
Wheeler moved into the rear of Sherman’s army, Jack¬ 
son’s cavalry shared in the movements that defeated Kil¬ 
patrick’s raid against the Macon road. He led his division 
of cavalry through the Nashville and Murfreesboro cam¬ 
paign, and then retiring to Mississippi, was there, in Feb¬ 
ruary, 1865, assigned to command of all Tennessee cav¬ 
alry in Forrest’s department, with other brigades, to form 
Jackson’s division, one of the two provided for in For¬ 
rest’s reorganization. His last military service was the 
cutting off of Croxton’s brigade from the main body of 
Wilson’s expedition, April, 1865. Since the close of the 
war General Jackson has engaged in stock raising, and is 
proprietor of the celebrated Belle Meade stock farm near 
Nashville, Tenn. 


318 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Major-General Bushrod R. Johnson, a distinguished 
Confederate officer and citizen of Tennessee, was born in 
Ohio in 1817. He was a cadet at the United States mili¬ 
tary academy from 1836 to 1840, when he was appointed 
second lieutenant in the Third infantry. He served in 
the Florida war, and was on frontier duty at Fort Leaven¬ 
worth, Kan., when he was promoted to first lieutenant, 
February, 1844. He participated in the Mexican war, 
and was engaged in the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de 
la Palma and Monterey, and the siege of Vera Cruz. 
After the fall of that city he remained there on commis¬ 
sary duty until October. In that month he resigned and 
returned to the United States. He was professor in the 
Western military institute of Kentucky from 1848 to 
1851, when he became its superintendent. Four years 
later he became superintendent of the military college of 
the university of Nashville, Tenn., which place he held 
at the outbreak of the Confederate war. He was also at 
that time colonel of Tennessee militia. During his stay 
in Kentucky he had been lieutenant-colonel of militia. 
He was appointed colonel of engineers in the provisional 
army of Tennessee, June 28, 1861, and when the Tennes¬ 
see troops were turned over to the Confederate States, he 
was assigned to the army acting in Tennessee and Ken¬ 
tucky under the command of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston. 
He commanded with great ability a brigade at Fort Don- 
elson, having been commissioned brigadier-general Jan¬ 
uary 24, 1862. Though captured on the fall of that im¬ 
portant post, he was exchanged in time to bear a conspic¬ 
uous part in the battle of Shiloh, where he was severely 
wounded April 6, 1862. On his recovery he went into 
the Kentucky campaign, and at the battle of Perryville, 
his and Cleburne’s brigades, charging together, captured 
three batteries and many prisoners. General Johnson 
also led his brigade in Hardee’s brilliant and successful 
charge in the battle of Murfreesboro. At Chickamauga, 
in the second day’s battle, he was the first to detect and 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


319 


enter the gap in the Federal lines. Of this, Gen. D. H. 
Hill says: “With the coolness and judgment for which 
he was always distinguished, he took in the situation at 
a glance, and began a flank movement to the right. 
Longstreet adopted the plan of his lieutenant and made 
his other troops conform to Johnson’s movement,” thus 
sweeping away one wing of the Federal army and with it 
the commanding general himself. General Johnson also 
served under Longstreet in the unfortunate campaign 
into east Tennessee, commanding Buckner’s division, bri¬ 
gades of Gracie, Johnson and Reynolds; shared in the dis¬ 
astrous assault on Fort Sanders (Knoxville), and fought 
the battle of Bean’s Station. When the campaign of 
1864 opened in Virginia, General Johnson, with his divi¬ 
sion, was near Petersburg, where he assisted in the 
defense against Butler’s attack upon the Richmond & 
Petersburg railroad. His services were also eminent in 
the battle of Drewry’s Bluff, where Beauregard “bottled 
up” Butler. A few days after this battle Johnson was 
commissioned major-general (May 21, 1864). At the 
battle of the Crater, before Petersburg, he commanded the 
troops who repulsed the Federal assault. He continued 
to serve with distinguished ability until the end came 
and the banners of the Confederacy were furled forever. 
At the evacuation of Richmond he commanded the 
division of Anderson’s corps, comprising the brigades of 
Wallace, Moody, Ransom and Wise, South Carolina, Ala¬ 
bama, North Carolina and Virginia troops; was engaged 
in severe fighting preceding and during the retreat, and 
after the battle of Sailor’s Creek was ordered by General 
Lee to collect all the scattered forces of Anderson’s and 
Ewell’s commands. In 1866 he resumed his favorite occu¬ 
pation, that of a teacher, and served as professor of 
engineering, mechanics and natural philosophy in the 
Western military institute at Georgetown, Ky., until 1880. 
On December 7th of that year he died at Brighton, Ill., 
at the age of sixty-three years. 


320 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Brigadier-General William McComb, a gallant Tennes¬ 
see soldier, was a native of Pennsylvania. About 1856 
he went to Montgomery county, Tenn., where he en¬ 
gaged in superintending the erection of a large flouring 
mill at Price’s landing, on the Cumberland river. In that 
section of the State he was living at the beginning of the 
civil war. Since his sympathies were with the South, he 
enlisted as a private in one of the companies of the Four¬ 
teenth Tennessee regiment. He was promoted to lieu¬ 
tenant soon afterward, and made adjutant of the regi¬ 
ment by Col. W. A. Forbes. This regiment was part of 
the brigade of Gen. S. R. Anderson in the Cheat Moun¬ 
tain campaign in northwest Virginia, and next, with the 
rest of Boring’s division, shared in the hardships of Stone¬ 
wall Jackson’s winter campaign to Bath, Hancock and 
Romney. At the reorganization of the regiment at York- 
town, Va., in the winter of 1862, William McComb was 
elected major. As such he took part in the battle of 
Seven Pines, where the brigade commander, General 
Hatton, was killed. Gen. James Archer was now placed 
in command of this brigade. At the battle of Cedar Run 
Lieut. -Col. George Harrell was mortally wounded and was 
succeeded by McComb. In the second battle of Manassas 
Colonel Forbes was killed, and now McComb became 
colonel of the Fourteenth Tennessee, September 2, 1862. 
At the battle of Chancellorsville, Colonel McComb was 
wounded, and did not recover in time to take part in the 
battle of Gettysburg. He was repeatedly wounded in 
battle, but always returned to duty as soon as he was 
able. On the death of General Archer, his and Gen. 
Bushrod Johnson’s old brigades were consolidated, and 
Colonel McComb was placed in command of the consoli¬ 
dated brigades, receiving his commission as brigadier- 
general on the 20th of January, 1865. In the final battles 
around Petersburg, McComb and his men did their duty 
with their accustomed zeal and alacrity. This gallant 
brigade and its commander were faithful to the last, and 


321 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 

v 

when the end came returned to their homes with the 
consciousness of duty well performed. 

Major-General John Porter McCown was bom in Ten¬ 
nessee in 1815, and graduated at West Point in 1840, with 
commission as second lieutenant of Fourth artillery. He 
served in the removal of the Indians to the West in 1840, 
and on the frontier during the Canada border disturb¬ 
ances, 1840-41; in the military occupation of Texas, 
1845-46, and in the Mexican war, 1846-47, being engaged 
in the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Mon¬ 
terey, Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, and in the assault and 
capture of the City of Mexico. He was brevetted captain 
for gallant and meritorious conduct at Cerro Gordo. 
After the Mexican war he served in various capacities, part 
of the time on frontier duty on the Rio Grande, being 
engaged in several skirmishes. On the 9th of January, 
1851, he was commissioned captain of the Fourth artil¬ 
lery. He also served in Florida against the Seminole 
Indians, 1856-57. When Tennessee seceded and cast 
her lot with the Confederacy, he resigned his commission 
and was made lieutenant-colonel of artillery in the Con¬ 
federate army. His promotion was rapid; to colonel in 
May, 1861, brigadier-general, October, 1861, and major- 
general, March, 1862. At the time of the battle of Bel¬ 
mont, General McCown was sent up the east bank of the 
Mississippi with a force of infantry and artillery. He 
found no enemy threatening Polk’s position, and the in¬ 
formation thus obtained enabled Polk to send men enough 
across the river to insure victory at Belmont. He com¬ 
manded at New Madrid in March, 1862, but was assigned 
to duty elsewhere before the investment of that post by 
General Pope. June 20, 1862, he was assigned to com¬ 
mand of the army of the West, Van Dorn taking depart¬ 
ment command. He was sent to take command at Chat¬ 
tanooga just before the advance of Bragg to that point in 
1862. He had command of a division in the army of 

Tenn 29 


322 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Kentucky under Kirby Smith, and for a while in the fall 
of 1862 had charge of the department of East Tennessee. 
At Murfreesboro he and Cleburne formed the right of 
Hardee’s corps, which fell upon McCook with such im¬ 
petuosity as to sweep completely that part of the field, 
driving the Union left a distance of four miles, cap¬ 
turing cannon, small-arms, and thousands of prisoners. 
McCown’s infantry and Wheeler’s cavalry are spoken of in 
the reports as killing, wounding or capturing half the 
force in their front. Throughout the war McCown per¬ 
formed to the satisfaction of his superiors whatever duties 
fell to his lot. At the close of hostilities he settled near 
Knoxville and engaged in school-teaching. He after¬ 
ward settled at Little Rock, Ark., where he died January 
22, 1879. 

Brigadier-General George Maney was one of the most 
gallant officers of Tennessee. Before Tennessee had 
decided the question of secession, he was ready to serve 
her in the field if his services should be required. 
Espousing the cause of the South with all his heart, he 
was appointed colonel of the First Tennessee infantry on 
May 8, 1861. In July he was sent to Staunton, Va., and 
in the brigade of Gen. S. R. Anderson was ordered to 
report to General Loring in northwest Virginia. He 
served in the Cheat Mountain campaign, and was sent 
with General Anderson’s command to join Gen. Stone¬ 
wall Jackson at Winchester, Va., in December, 1861. 
His regiment was part of the force with which Jackson 
marched against Bath, Hancock and Romney in January, 
1862. In February, 1862, after the fall of Forts Henry 
and Donelson, he made an earnest appeal to the Rich¬ 
mond government to send himself and regiment to assist 
in the defense of Tennessee. This request was granted, 
and he was placed in command of the Second brigade, 
Cheatham’s division of Polk’s corps of the army of the 
Mississippi. He led this command at the battle of Shiloh 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 323 

with such ability that on the 16th of April, 1862, he was 
commissioned a brigadier-general. In this, his first 
battle in command of brigade, General Cheatham reported 
that he led a charge in person with dashing gallantry, 
“one of the most brilliant, as it was certainly one of the 
most decisive, movements of the day. ” His brigade con¬ 
sisted at first of the First, Fourth, Sixth, Ninth and 
Twenty-seventh Tennessee regiments of infantry, Major 
Maney’s battalion of Tennessee infantry, and Capt. 
Melancthon Smith’s battery of light artillery. The 
Forty-first and Fiftieth Tennessee regiments of infantry 
were afterward added to this brigade. At the battle of 
Perryville the Forty-first Georgia was also in his com¬ 
mand. General Maney was in the hottest of the fight at 
Perryville, also at Murfreesboro, Chickamauga and Mis¬ 
sionary Ridge. Through the marching, digging and 
fighting of the long death-grapple known as the Atlanta 
campaign, Maney’s brigade was still conspicuous, and 
among the most trusted of the soldiers of Johnston and 
Hood. Throughout the war there was no more faithful 
soldier of the Confederate States than Gen. George 
Maney. Attentive to every detail, a good disciplinarian, 
careful of the wants of his men, skillful and courageous 
in battle, implicitly relied upon by his division and corps 
commanders, he ranked among the best of the many 
excellent brigadier-generals of the army of Tennessee, a 
body of men that needed only a Lee or a Jackson to make 
it the equal in fortune as in valor of the noble army of 
Northern Virginia. General Maney is one of the few 
officers of the army of Tennessee who had the distinction 
of serving at any time under Gen. Stonewall Jackson. 
It was in the Bath expedition that Jackson directed 
Loring to send a regiment to advance from the Confed¬ 
erate left along the mountain which commanded the 
town. Jackson in his report says: “He [Loring] directed 
Colonel Maney to execute the order, and it was under¬ 
taken with a patriotic enthusiasm which entitles the First 


324 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Tennessee regiment and its commander to special praise. 
General Maney is still living in Nashville, Tenn. (1898). 

Brigadier-General Joseph B. Palmer, at the beginning 
of the war, was a prominent lawyer of Murfreesboro, 
Tenn. He opposed secession, and insisted that the South 
should make her fight in the Union. But like the vast 
majority of Southern Union men, he believed that his 
first allegiance was due to his State. So when Tennes¬ 
see resolved upon secession, he obeyed her voice and 
raised a company for the defense of the South. Of this 
company he was elected captain, and when it, with nine 
other companies, was formed into the Eighteenth Tennes¬ 
see regiment of infantry, Captain Palmer was unanimously 
elected colonel. This regiment was assigned to the army 
commanded by Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston. It formed 
a part of the army at Fort Donelson, sharing in the glories 
and disasters of that fierce conflict. When the fort was 
surrendered, February 16, 1862, Colonel Palmer and his 
men found themselves prisoners of war. He was kept 
in prison at Fort Warren until his exchange in August, 

1862, then joined his regiment, which had also been just 
exchanged at Vicksburg. Shortly afterward the regiment 
was reorganized at Jackson, Miss., and re-elected Palmer 
as its colonel. In Breckinridge’s brilliant, though unsuc¬ 
cessful charge at Murfreesboro on the 2d day of January, 

1863, Palmer’s regiment suffered heavily, and Palmer was 
himself badly wounded in three places. These wounds 
incapacitated him for service for about four months, but 
he returned to his regiment in time for the battle of 
Chickamauga, where, while leading his command in one 
of the headlong charges of that hotly-contested field, he 
received another dangerous wound in the shoulder, which 
bled so profusely as to threaten death before help could 
come. It was not until the army reached Atlanta that 
he was in condition to resume his duties. Here he was 
appointed to the command of his brigade, and commis- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


325 


sioned brigadier-general November 15, 1864. His bri- 
gade, formerly commanded by John C. Brown, comprised 
the Third, Eighteenth, Thirty-second and Forty-fifth 
Tennessee regiments. In the campaign of Hood into 
Tennessee, this brigade was detached from the army at 
Nashville and sent to co-operate with Bate and Forrest 
in a movement against Murfreesboro. On the retreat of 
the army, Palmer’s brigade formed part of the force under 
Walthall and Forrest which brought up the rear, and did 
its duty so bravely as to win the applause of even the 
enemy. During the North Carolina campaign of 1865, 
all the decimated infantry regiments of Tennessee then 
serving under Johnston were consolidated into four regi¬ 
ments and placed in a brigade commanded by General 
Palmer. Mr. G. N. Baskette, of Nashville, Tenn. (Con¬ 
federate Veteran, November, 1897), relates a remark¬ 
able exploit of Palmer’s brigade at the battle of Ben ton - 
ville, the last one fought by the gallant army of Tennes¬ 
see. On this occasion, “part of Palmer’s brigade charged 
through the enemy’s line and kept on to the rear of the 
Federal army, capturing a number of prisoners, and by a 
detour, after a long and painful march of about a week, 
rejoined the brigade. ’ ’ The same writer, summing up the 
character of General Palmer, says: “He was ever cour¬ 
teous to his subordinate officers and the men in the line, 
and while maintaining proper discipline had always a 
warm sympathy for the boys in the trenches or on the 
march. On the battlefield he was cool and collected, 
bearing himself always as a leader who felt the weight of 
his responsibility, and v yet was ever ready to brave 
any danger which promised to benefit the cause to which 
he was devoted.’’ At the close of the war General Pal¬ 
mer proved himself as good a citizen as he had been a 
soldier. He died on the 4th of November, 1890, mourned 
by his many friends and regretted by his countrymen. 

Brigadier-General Gideon Johnson Pillow was born in 


326 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Williamson county, Tenn., June 8, 1806. In 1827 he 
was graduated at the university of Nashville, after 
which he commenced the practice of law at Columbia and 
rapidly rose to prominence. He was a delegate to the 
National Democratic convention of 1844, and aided largely 
in securing the nomination of his neighbor, James K. Polk, 
for the presidency. In July, 1846, he abandoned peace¬ 
ful pursuits to accept a commission as brigadier-general 
of Tennessee volunteers in the Mexican war. At first 
he served with Taylor in northern Mexico, but was trans¬ 
ferred to Scott’s command at the beginning of the siege 
of Vera Cruz. In this siege he took an active part, and 
was appointed one of the American commissioners to 
receive the surrender of the city. At Cerro Gordo he 
commanded the right wing, and in the impetuous charge 
received a severe wound. On April 30, 1847, he was 
commissioned major-general. He fought with great gal¬ 
lantry at Churubusco, Molino del Rey and Chapultepec, 
in which last affair he was a second time wounded. A 
sharp difference between General Scott and himself led 
to a court-martial, requested by himself. By the decision 
of this court he was fully acquitted of the charge of 
insubordination which Scott had brought against him. 
After the close of the Mexican war he resumed the prac¬ 
tice of law, and also engaged in planting. In the great 
Southern convention held in Nashville in 1850, he took 
a conservative course and opposed extreme measures. 
At the beginning of the war for Southern independence 
he was appointed, by Governor Harris, major-general in 
the provisional army of Tennessee, in which capacity he 
aided largely in the organization of the State forces. 
On July 9, 1861, he was commissioned brigadier-general 
of the provisional army of the Confederate States. Being 
assigned to General Polk’s department as second in com¬ 
mand to that officer, he fought the battle of Belmont suc¬ 
cessfully against General Grant. At Fort Donelson he 
was second in command to Brigadier-General Floyd, and 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


327 


handled his troops with skill and ability. The gallant 
fighting of the Confederates was all in vain, for they 
found themselves hemmed in by superior numbers and 
had to surrender. Floyd and Pillow turned over the com¬ 
mand to Buckner, who surrendered the fort and garrison 
to General Grant. Before the surrender, Floyd embarked 
his Virginia troops upon steamers and carried them off. 
General Pillow and a portion of his staff crossed to the 
opposite side of the Cumberland and made their way 
to Clarksville. At Decatur, Ala., General Pillow was 
relieved from duty. He subsequently led a detachment of 
cavalry in the Southwest under Beauregard, and still later 
was made chief of conscripts in the Western department. 
At the close of the war he found himself ruined in fortune 
and left, in advanced age, without other means of support 
than the earnings of his professional labors. During the 
war he had ordered the seizure of the coal of a Pittsburg 
company. The coal had been sold and the proceeds 
turned over to the State, and everything else received 
for the property of the company had been applied 
to military purposes. The general was sued by the Pitts¬ 
burg company for $125,000 damages, which resulted in a 
judgment against him for $38,500. Although a new trial 
was granted, the general’s claims as a belligerent were 
not allowed. His State could not come to his relief. He 
was compelled to go into bankruptcy. General Pillow 
said that the loss of his property gave him “less anguish 
than the humiliation of bankruptcy. ” He attempted the 
cultivation of his farm in Maury county and of his planta¬ 
tion in Arkansas, but labored under many discouraging 
circumstances. He died in Lee county, Ark., Octo¬ 
ber 6, 1878. 

Brigadier-General William A. Quarles, when the 
Forty-second Tennessee was organized in 1861, was 
elected and commissioned its colonel. The regiment 
was placed in the army of Gen. Albert Sidney John- 


328 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ston, and in February, 1862, was quartered at Clarks¬ 
ville, Tenn. On the 12th of February they received orders 
from Brigadier-General Pillow to go to Fort Donelson. 
The order was immediately obeyed, and going on board a 
transport they arrived next morning under a heavy fire. 
The companies were formed on the transport and marched 
off in regular order. In passing through the village of 
Dover, three men were wounded, one mortally, by the 
Federal shells. Then, assigned to Colonel Heiman’s 
brigade, the regiment was thrown into the trenches. 
This was the introduction of these gallant men to the 
stern realities of war. On the 13th, 14th and 15th of Feb¬ 
ruary occurred the severest fighting at Donelson. Both 
superiors and subordinates bore testimony to the gallantry 
of Colonel Quarles in the trying ordeal of this first battle. 
“In this attack,” says Gen. Bushrod Johnson, speaking 
of the first assaults of the enemy, “Captain Maney’s 
company of artillery and Colonels Abernathy’s and 
Quarles’ regiments principally suffered and deserve more 
particular notice.” During the three days’fighting the 
conduct of Colonel Quarles was such that Lieut. T. 
McGinnis, acting adjutant of the Forty-second Tennes¬ 
see, said in a note to General Buckner: “Before closing 
my report, I will call your attention to the cool and gal¬ 
lant conduct of Colonel Quarles. He was always at the head 
of his regiment, and set a gallant example for his officers 
and men. ” After being exchanged, Colonel Quarles was 
put in command of the Forty-second, Forty-sixth, Forty- 
eighth and Fifty-third Tennessee regiments, consolidated, 
and the Ninth Tennessee battalion, and assigned to 
Maxey’s brigade, which with other troops was under com¬ 
mand of Gen. Frank Gardner at Port Hudson. Maxey’s 
brigade was transferred, at the beginning of the siege of 
Vicksburg, from Port Hudson to the command of Gen. 
Joseph E. Johnston at Jackson, Miss. On August 25, 
1863, Colonel Quarles was promoted to brigadier-general, 
at that time being under the orders of Gen. Dabney H. 



Brig.-Gen. J. C. Vaughn. 
Brig.-Gen. L. M. Walker. 
Brig.-Gen, Gideon J. Pillow. 


Brig.-Gen. Preston Smith. 
Brig.-Gen. O. F. Strahl. 
Brig.-Gen. Felix K. Zollicoffer. 


Maj.-Gen. C. M. Wilcox. 
Brig.-Gen. Jos. B. Palmer. 
Brig.-Gen. M. J. Wright. 

































































CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


829 


Maury. Quarles’ brigade was sent to Bragg in antici¬ 
pation of the battle of Missionary Ridge, but did not 
reach him in time to share in that engagement. He was 
ordered back to Mississippi after it seemed certain that 
Bragg would not be attacked again at Dalton, but was 
returned to Georgia on the opening of the Atlanta cam¬ 
paign. During the long continued conflict from Dalton 
to Atlanta this brigade exhibited a steady bearing. At 
Pickett’s mill, General Cleburne expressed to General 
Quarles and his brigade his thanks for timely assistance 
rendered. At the battle of Franklin, General Walthall 
reported: “Brigadier-General Quarles was severely 
wounded at the head of his brigade, within a short dis¬ 
tance of the enemy’s inner line, and all of his staff officers 
with him on the field were killed; and so heavy were the 
losses in his command that when the battle ended its 
officer highest in rank was a captain.” After the war 
General Quarles made his home in Clarksville, Tenn., 
where he died December 28, 1893. 

Brigadier-General James Edward Rains, one of the 
many civilians who rose to high military command during 
the great war between the States, was born in Nashville, 
Tenn., ill April, 1833. He was graduated at Yale in 
1854, and then studied law. He became city attorney at 
Nashville in 1858, and attorney-general for his judicial 
district in i860. In politics he was a Whig, and was for 
some time editor of the Daily Republican Banner. When 
the summons to war came, he enlisted in the Confederate 
army as a private, but was elected colonel of the Eleventh 
Tennessee infantry and commissioned May 10, 1861. 
The greater part of his service was in east Tennessee. 
During the winter of 1861-62 he commanded the gar¬ 
rison at Cumberland Gap. This position he held as 
long as it was possible to do so, repulsing several 
attempts of the enemy upon his lines. It was not until the 
18th of June, 1862, that the Federals turned his position 

Tenn 30 


330 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


and rendered it untenable. Had this occurred earlier, 
east Tennessee would have been completely lost to the 
Confederates in 1862. But the forces which Kirby Smith 
was now gathering about Knoxville, in addition to those 
in the neighborhood of Cumberland Gap, made the Union 
occupation of that post almost a barren victory. When, 
in August, Smith advanced into Kentucky, he left Gen. 
Carter L. Stevenson with a strong division to operate 
against the Union general, Morgan, who was holding the 
gap with about 9,000 men. Colonel Rains commanded 
a brigade in Stevenson’s division, and so efficient was his 
work that his name frequently appeared in both the Con¬ 
federate and Union reports. Kirby Smith’s success in 
Kentucky, and the steady pressure brought to bear upon 
Morgan by the Confederates, at last forced the Union 
commander to abandon Cumberland Gap and retreat 
through eastern Kentucky to the Ohio river. The efficient 
service rendered by Colonel Rains in all these movements 
was rewarded by a brigadier-general’s commission, No¬ 
vember 4, 1862. When Bragg was concentrating his army 
at Murfreesboro (November, 1862), after the return from 
the Kentucky campaign, the brigade of General Rains, 
composed of Stovall’s and J. T. Smith’s Georgia battal¬ 
ions, R. B. Vance’s North Carolina regiment and the 
Eleventh Tennessee under Colonel Gordon, was ordered 
to that point and assigned to the division of General 
McCown, serving in Hardee’s corps. In the brilliant 
charges made by this corps in the battle of December 31, 
1862, by which the whole Federal right was routed and 
bent back upon the center, with immense loss in killed, 
wounded, prisoners and guns, McCown’s division bore an 
illustrious part. But, as in all great battles is to be 
expected, the division lost many brave men and gallant 
officers. Among the killed was Brigadier-General Rains, 
who fell shot through the heart as he was advancing with 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


331 


his men against a Federal battery. He left to his family, 
to his native State and to the South the precious legacy 
of a noble name. 

Brigadier-General Preston Smith was born in Giles 
county, December 25, 1823. He received the advantages 
of a good country school and of Jackson college, Colum¬ 
bia. In this town he studied law and practiced several 
years. Then he moved to Waynesboro, and subsequently 
to Memphis. At the outbreak of the civil war he entered 
the service of the Confederate States, and was made col¬ 
onel of the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth regiment of 
Tennessee. From the first his services were effective and 
brilliant. At Shiloh his regiment was attached to Bush- 
rod Johnson’s brigade and Cheatham’s division. He was 
severely wounded in this battle, but was in the field again 
in time to share in the Kentucky campaign. In the mag¬ 
nificent victory of Richmond, Ky., he commanded a bri¬ 
gade under Cleburne, and upon the wounding of that gen¬ 
eral, succeeded him in command of the division. In no 
battle of the war did either side win a more brilliant vic¬ 
tory than was gained by the Confederates on this mem¬ 
orable field. On October 27th, Colonel Smith was com¬ 
missioned brigadier-general, and no promotion was ever 
more worthily bestowed. General Smith’s useful career 
was brought to a close at Chickamauga, Ga., September 
19, 1863, at the close of the first day’s fight on this hotly- 
contested field. At 6 o’clock p. m., General Smith was 
informed that a night attack had been determined upon, 
and was ordered to support General Deshler’s brigade as 
soon as it should move to the front. During this advance, 
in the confusion caused by a night attack, a portion of 
Deshler’s brigade became somewhat disordered and 
blocked the advance of Smith, who ordered them to move 
forward. They obeyed, but obliqued too much to the 
left and uncovered the two right regiments of General 
Smith’s brigade. This being unknown to General 


332 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Smith, when he again came upon the troops at a halt 
in his immediate front, supposing them to be a part of 
General Deshler’s command, he and Capt. Thomas H. 
King, a volunteer aide, rode forward to ascertain the 
cause of the delay. Coming up to the line, which 
proved to be the enemy, and asking who was in com¬ 
mand of their troops, the Union soldiers recognized 
him as a Confederate officer and fired, killing him and 
Captain King. A. J. Vaughan, Jr., the senior colonel of 
the brigade, made a similar mistake and was likewise 
fired upon,but escaped unharmed, though Captain Donel- 
son, acting assistant adjutant-general, who was riding by 
his side, was lulled. By order of Colonel Vaughan, some 
files of the Twelfth Tennessee now opened fire and the 
enemy in the front surrendered. Gen. B. F. Cheatham, 
in his report of the operations of his division in this 
battle, says: “It was in this night attack that Brig.-Gen. 
Preston Smith of Tennessee received his mortal wound, 
from which he died in 50 minutes. At the head of his 
noble brigade, of which he had been the commander as 
colonel and brigadier-general for two years and a half, he 
fell in the performance of what he himself, with his expir¬ 
ing breath, simply said was his duty. Active, energetic 
and brave, with a rare fitness to command, full of honor¬ 
able ambition in perfect harmony with the most elevated 
patriotism, the whole country will mourn his fall and do 
honor to his memory.” General Bragg in his official 
report also says: “Brig.-Gens. B. H. Helm, Preston 
Smith and James Deshler died upon the field in the 
heroic discharge of duty. They were true patriots and 
gallant soldiers, worthy of the high reputation they 
enjoyed. * ’ Tennessee has good reason to be proud of 
Preston Smith. 

Brigadier-General Thomas Benton Smith, entering the 
Confederate service in the Twentieth Tennessee, first 
stood the crucial test at Shiloh, where the colonel of the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


333 


regiment, J. A. Battle, was captured. When Breckin¬ 
ridge attacked Baton Rouge on August 5, 1862, Smith 
had been promoted to colonel of the regiment. On this 
occasion he commanded one of the two brigades of the 
division of Gen. Charles Clark. The Confederates were 
at first successful, defeating the enemy in the field, though 
exposed to the fire of the Federal fleet as well as of the 
army. General Breckinridge says in his report of the 
battle: “Colonel Smith, commanding Fourth brigade, 
composed of the consolidated Tennessee regiments and 
the Twenty-second Mississippi, was ordered forward, 
and moved against the enemy in fine style.” At the 
battle of Murfreesboro, Gen. William J. Hardee bears 
this testimony concerning Colonel Smith: “The Twen¬ 
tieth Tennessee, of Preston’s brigade, vainly endeavored 
near the river to carry a battery, and after a heavy loss, 
including their gallant commander, Col. T. B. Smith, 
who was severely wounded, were compelled to fall back 
under cover.” At the battle of Chickamauga, Colonel 
Smith was again ready for duty. At the opening of the 
Atlanta campaign in May, 1864, Colonel Smith appears 
at the head of Tyler’s brigade, its gallant commander 
having been disabled by a wound. On July 29, 1864, he 
was commissioned brigadier-general. His brigade em¬ 
braced the Second, Tenth and Twentieth Tennessee, the 
Thirty-seventh Georgia, the Fiftieth, Thirtieth and 
Thirty-seventh Tennessee, consolidated, and a Georgia 
battalion of sharpshooters. Throughout the battles of 
the Atlanta campaign, from Dalton to Jonesboro, General 
Smith led the old Tyler brigade and won new fame for him¬ 
self and his command. He accompanied the army in the 
same capacity in the Tennessee campaign, participated 
in the battle of Franklin and the siege of Murfreesboro; 
and at Nashville on the fateful 16th of December he was 
with his gallant men fighting against overwhelming dis¬ 
aster until captured. Two others of General Bate’s bri¬ 
gade commanders, Major Lash and Gen. H. R. Jackson, 


334 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


shared his fate as a prisoner of war. General Bate, in his 
report, said of Smith that he bore himself with heroic 
courage, both through good and evil fortune, always exe¬ 
cuting orders with zeal and alacrity, and bearing himself 
in the face of the enemy as became a reputation there¬ 
tofore bravely won. 

General Otho French Strahl, one of the choicest spirits 
that embraced the cause of the South, and finally offered 
all upon her altar, was a native of Ohio, who had settled 
in Tennessee and was practicing law at Dyersburg when 
the great war of States began. Although of Northern 
birth, both of his grandmothers were Southern women, 
and perhaps had much to do with moulding the senti¬ 
ments which made him such an ardent sympathizer with 
the South. When Tennessee was making ready to cast 
in her lot with the Southern Confederacy, the young 
lawyer entered the Fourth Tennessee regiment as a cap¬ 
tain (May, 1861). Early in 1862 he became lieutenant- 
colonel of the regiment. As such he shared in the hard¬ 
ships and glories of the campaigns of Shiloh, Bentonville 
and Murfreesboro, in which he so conducted himself as to 
be promoted colonel early in 1863, and then to the rank 
of brigadier-general, July 28, 1863. In the hundred days’ 
campaign from Dalton to Atlanta in 1864, he and his 
men added to their already magnificent record. Mr. 
S. A. Cunningham, who was a boy soldier in his brigade 
at Franklin, November 30, 1864, has given in his maga¬ 
zine a graphic account of the conduct and death of his 
commander on that fateful day. Mr. Cunningham being 
that day right guide to the brigade, was near Strahl in 
the fatal advance, and was pained at the extreme sadness 
in his face. He was surprised, too, that his general went 
into the battle on foot. The account of Mr. Cunning¬ 
ham continues: “I was near General Strahl, who stood 
in the ditch and handed up guns to those posted to fire 
them. I had passed to him my short Enfield (noted in 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


335 


the regiment) about the sixth time. The man who had 
been firing, cocked it and was taking deliberate aim when 
he was shot, and tumbled down dead into the ditch upon 
those killed before him. When the men so exposed were 
shot down, their places were supplied by volunteers until 
these were exhausted, and it was necessary for General 
Strahl to call for others. He turned to me, and though 
I was several feet back from the ditch, I rose up immedi¬ 
ately, and walking over the wounded and dead took posi¬ 
tion, with one foot upon the pile of bodies of my dead fel¬ 
lows and the other upon the embankment, and fired guns 
which the general himself handed up to me, until he, too, 
was shot down. ’ ’ The general was not instantly killed, 
but soon after received a second shot and then a 
third, which finished for him the fearful work. “Gen¬ 
eral Strahl wac a model character, and it was said 
of him that in all the war he was never known to 
use language unsuited to the presence of ladies.” 
While the army was camped at Dalton on the 20th of 
April, 1864, services were held in the Methodist church 
by Bishop Charles Todd Quintard, of the Episcopal 
church. On this occasion Bishop Quintard baptized Gen¬ 
eral Strahl and presented him to Bishop Stephen Elliott 
for confirmation, with three other generals of the Confed¬ 
erate army—Lieutenant-General Hardee and Brigadier- 
Generals Shoup and Govan. 

Brigadier-General Robert C. Tyler, a highly heroic 
officer, was a native of Maryland, born and reared in the 
city of Baltimore. Being of a naturally enterprising dis¬ 
position, and imbued with the idea that American destiny 
pointed to the control by the United States of all the 
North American continent, he joined the Nicaraguan 
expedition of Gen. William Walker in 1859. After the 
unsuccessful issue of that enterprise he went to Memphis, 
Tenn., and there the war of 1861 found him. He entered 
the Confederate service as quartermaster of the Fifteenth 


336 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Tennessee; in the autumn of 1861 he was promoted to 
major on the staff of General Cheatham, in the same 
department, and in a few months was made lieutenant- 
colonel of the Fifteenth. He commanded it at the battle 
of Shiloh, was soon promoted to colonel, and led it with 
distinction in all the engagements of the Southwest until, 
on the promotion of General Bate, he was made briga¬ 
dier-general. At Missionary Ridge he was dangerously 
wounded and permanently disabled, and was not in the 
field again until Major-General Wilson, with 10,000. cav¬ 
alry, was sent to Alabama and Georgia to lay waste and 
destroy the country. General Tyler, still on crutches, 
was sojourning near West Point, Ga., when Col. O. H. 
LaGrange, commanding a brigade of Wilson’s cavalry, 
entered that place on the 16th of April and made an easy 
capture of a lot of quartermaster and commissary stores. 
Hearing of the approach of LaGrange, General Tyler or¬ 
ganized a lot of convalescents and Georgia militia, and 
undertook the defense of a little earthwork provided for 
the protection of a railroad bridge and called that day 
“Fort Tyler.” Colonel LaGrange reported that it was 
defended by two field pieces and a 32-pounder, and “265 
desperate men. ’ ’ There were no trained gunners in the 
garrison, so no one of the attacking force was injured by 
the artillery. This fort, said Colonel LaGrange, was “a 
remarkably strong earthwork, 35 yards square.” He 
assailed it with a brigade composed of the Second and 
Fourth Indiana, First Wisconsin and Seventh Kentucky 
regiments, dismounted, and the Eighteenth Indiana bat¬ 
tery, and reported that the assault was made “under a 
scathing fire;” and his chief, Major-General Wilson, in 
his report to Maj.-Gen. George H. Thomas, said the 
assault was made “under a withering fire of musketry 
and grape,” but in this large attacking column, Colonel 
LaGrange stated his loss was only 7 killed and 29 wounded. 
He reported the loss of the defenders of the fort at 
“18 killed and 28 seriously wounded, mostly shot through 



Brf* Oen JOH^cSa™ Alkx. w. cSiS' "^KS.. J. H.U. 

$$£2:i2££<?iS£*® , Brif.-Gen. H. B. ».>,«,» •»“•>• F. 0«u««. 

Brig.-Gen. G. W. Gordon. Maj.-Gen. W. Y. C. Humrs. 










' 














. 














































CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 337 

the head. ” General Thomas reported the affair to Gen¬ 
eral Grant on the ist of June, and stated that the defense 
was “stubborn” and that LaGrange had captured 300 
prisoners. Colonel LaGrange, in a dispatch to General 
Upton, dated the day of the capture, reports the number 
of prisoners at 200. On the 17th of April, in a dispatch 
to General Canby and in one dated the 21st to General 
Sherman, General Wilson claimed for LaGrange the cap¬ 
ture of the same number. No exact information has 
been obtainable from Confederate sources, but the im¬ 
portance of the unfortunate affair and the strength of the 
garrison were exaggerated by the Federal commanding 
general through all grades down to Col. A. S. Bloom, of 
the Seventh Kentucky, who reported to the brigade com¬ 
mander that “after a fight raging furiously for over two 
hours, I prepared to charge the fort and helped to carry 
it, ’ ’ and naively added that he had a second lieutenant 
and two men slightly wounded. The gallant Tyler, 
two captains and one lieutenant were killed early by 
the sharpshooters. It was honorable to the little gar¬ 
rison that in spite of the fall of their leader they dis¬ 
played no white flag, but maintained the defense of 
the earthwork until they were overrun and captured by 
a force ten to fifteen times their own strength. The men 
around General Tyler were representatives of Tennes¬ 
see, Georgia and other States, imperfectly armed and 
organized at a moment’s notice; the garrison lost 48 
killed and wounded; the shots were received in the head, 
showing that the men did not take cover; it was the last 
fight east of the great river; it was a brave one, and a 
memorial stone should mark the place where Tyler and 
his heroes fell. 

Brigadier-General Alfred J. Vaughan was bom in Din- 
widdie county, Va., May 10, 1830, and was graduated 
at the Virginia military institute, July 4, 1851, as senior 
captain of cadets. He adopted civil engineering as his 

Tenn 31 


338 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


profession, and going West located at St. Joseph, Mo. 
Afterward he was deputy United States surveyor for 
the district of California. Returning east, he settled 
in Marshall county, Miss. He was very much opposed 
to the dissolution of *the Union, but when his adopted 
State, Mississippi, and his native State, Virginia, de¬ 
clared for secession, he promptly determined to abide 
by their decision, and at once raised a company for the 
Confederate service. Since Mississippi was not yet ready 
to arm and equip this company, he went with most of his 
men to Moscow, Tenn., and was mustered into service 
as captain in the Thirteenth Tennessee. At the reorgan¬ 
ization of this regiment in June, 1861, he was elected lieu¬ 
tenant-colonel. From his first affair with the enemy he 
gained the reputation of a fighting officer, and maintained 
this renown to the close of his military career. He 
was engaged in every battle under Polk, Bragg and Joseph 
E. Johnston, including Belmont, Shiloh, Richmond (Ky.), 
Perryville, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, and all the 
battles and numberless skirmishes of the Dalton-Atlanta 
campaign until the affair at Vining Station near Atlanta. 
At Richmond he ably commanded his brigade. At Chick¬ 
amauga he was made brigadier-general on the field, and 
succeeded to the command of the brigade of Preston 
Smith, who was killed in that battle. When he fell, Col¬ 
onel Vaughan was near his side and immediately took 
charge of his brigade, and by skill and courage richly 
earned the honor bestowed upon him by the President 
of the Confederacy. From the beginning of his career 
up to the battle of Chickamauga he had eight horses killed 
under him. At Vining Station, July 4, 1864, his leg was 
taken off by an exploding shell, and he was permanently 
disabled for military duty. After the war he returned to 
Mississippi and engaged in farming until 1872. The 
next year he opened a mercantile house in Memphis, 
Tenn. In 1878 the people of Shelby county elected him 
clerk of the criminal court by 6,000 majority. He has 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 339 

served officially as major-general, commanding the Ten¬ 
nessee division of United Confederate Veterans, in all the 
affairs of which he takes a lively interest. 

Brigadier-General John C. Vaughn was born in Gray¬ 
son county, Va., February 24, 1824. His family soon 
after moved to Tennessee and settled in Monroe county, 
where his youth and early manhood were passed. As 
soon as he was old enough to be elected to an office, he 
was chosen to a position of importance in his county. 
Although that section of the State has been noted for 
heated political strife, the people of Monroe county always 
stood by him. When the United States became involved 
in war with Mexico, young Vaughn entered the Fifth 
Tennessee volunteers as a captain and served throughout 
the war. At its close he returned to his home in east 
Tennessee and became a merchant in the little village of 
Sweetwater. He was frequently placed in responsible 
positions by his fellow citizens. He was in Charleston, 
S. C., at the commencement of the Confederate war, and 
participated in the opening of the bloodiest drama of 
modern times. Returning to east Tennessee, after the 
capture of Fort Sumter, he raised a company in Monroe 
county and aided in the organization of a regiment in 
Knoxville, of which he was elected colonel. It is said 
that this was really the first Tennessee regiment raised, 
but that the colonels of two other regiments reached 
Richmond first and offered their commands to the Con¬ 
federate government. Thus Colonel Vaughn’s regiment 
was numbered the Third Tennessee. The State of Ten¬ 
nessee having not yet seceded, Colonel Vaughn took his 
men to Lynchburg, Va., where they were mustered into 
the Confederate service on the 6th of June, and ordered 
to report to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, then at Harper’s 
Ferry. His command was stationed for a time at Romney. 
With a detachment of his own regiment and two compa¬ 
nies of the Thirteenth Virginia, Colonel Vaughn dispersed 


340 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


a body of the enemy at New Creek bridge, on the Balti¬ 
more & Ohio railroad, and captured two pieces of artillery, 
the first taken by the Confederates in the field. The 
regiment was subsequently attached to Kirby Smith’s 
brigade and participated in the first battle of Manassas. 
In the spring of 1862 Colonel Vaughn was ordered to east 
Tennessee. On September 20, 1862, he was commis¬ 
sioned brigadier-general, and in the winter following was 
sent with his brigade of East Tennesseeans to Vicksburg, 
where he assisted in repelling Sherman’s attack in De¬ 
cember. During the long and tedious siege of that im¬ 
portant post in 1863, Vaughn was in command of the 
upper defenses of the city. At last, worn out and deci¬ 
mated, his brigade was surrendered with the rest of Pem¬ 
berton’s army, July 4, 1863. General Vaughn was soon 
exchanged, and sent with a brigade of mounted men to 
operate in east Tennessee and southwest Virginia. When 
General Hunter began his.march against Lee’s communi¬ 
cations in 1864, Vaughn assisted in repelling his advance. 
In the performance of this duty he was engaged in the 
battle of Piedmont, and after the death of General Jones 
assumed command and brought off the shattered forces 
successfully. He was with Early in his successful cam¬ 
paign against Hunter, and in the last advance in Maryland 
and the valley of Virginia. Being wounded near Martins- 
burg, he was furloughed and returned to Bristol, Tenn. 
After the death of Gen. John H. Morgan, he took com¬ 
mand of the forces in east Tennessee. When Lee sur¬ 
rendered, Vaughn’s command was at Christianburg con¬ 
fronting Stoneman. On hearing the news he formed his 
war-worn Confederates in line and told them that the 
army of Northern Virginia had surrendered, but that if 
they would follow him, he would join Joe Johnston in 
North Carolina. The men who had followed their 
leader through four weary years, once more turned their 
backs upon their homes, cut down their artillery, destroyed 
their baggage wagons and marched into North Carolina. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 341 

After the surrender of Joe Johnston, General Vaughn’s 
troops formed part of the escort of President Davis in his 
attempt to make his way to the Trans-Mississippi depart¬ 
ment, and at Abbeville, S. C., Vaughn was one of the five 
brigade commanders who took part in the last council of 
war held by President Davis. At the close of the war 
General Vaughn went to south Georgia. He afterward 
returned to Tennessee and was elected to the State sen¬ 
ate, of which he was made presiding officer. At the close 
of his term he returned to south Georgia, where he re¬ 
mained until his death, being engaged either as a mer¬ 
chant at Thomasville or in planting. He died at his resi¬ 
dence in Brooks county, Ga., August io, 1875. 

Brigadier-General Lucius M. Walker was born in the 
State of Tennessee in the year 1829. He entered the 
United States military academy in 1846, and was gradu¬ 
ated in 1850 as brevet second lieutenant of dragoons; 
served on frontier duty and scouting, and reached the full 
grade of second lieutenant in 1852. In that year he 
resigned and became a commission merchant in Tennes¬ 
see, continuing in mercantile business until the spring of 
1861. On the nth of November of that year he was 
commissioned colonel of the Fortieth Tennessee, and was 
appointed commandant at the post of Memphis. On 
March n, 1862, he was commissioned brigadier-general 
and was posted at Madrid Bend. He retreated from that 
point by order of General McCown, his commanding 
officer, when it became evident that his whole force would 
be captured if he remained longer. Sickness prevented 
his presence with the army at the battle of Shiloh. He was 
with the army at Corinth before the retreat to Tupelo, and 
in the affair at Farmington on the 9th of May, 1862, his 
brigade, under his command, attacked and drove the 
enemy from their works. He was with the army at 
Tupelo for a time. On March 23, 1863, he received 
orders from Richmond to repair to the headquarters of 


342 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the Trans-Mississippi department and report to Gen. E. 
Kirby Smith for assignment to duty. He was assigned 
to the command of the cavalry brigade and participated in 
the battle of Helena, and in other operations of the cav¬ 
alry in this department. An unfortunate difference arose 
between General Walker and Gen. John S. Marmaduke, 
which led to a duel between these officers. An attempt 
to prevent the duel was made by General Price, who 
ordered both generals to remain closely in their quarters. 
The order did not reach General Walker, but was received 
by General Marmaduke. By an unfortunate series of 
mishaps the duel was not prevented, and taking place on 
the morning of September 6, 1863, General Walker was 
wounded, and died on the 19th of the same month. 

Major-General Cadmus M. Wilcox, a skillful Confed¬ 
erate officer, distinguished in all the campaigns of the 
army of Northern Virginia, was born in Wayne county, 
N. C., May 29, 1826. His father carried him to Ten¬ 
nessee when he was two years old, and hence he is ac¬ 
counted a son of the “Volunteer State." He studied for 
awhile at Cumberland college, in the city of Nashville; 
in 1842 was appointed to the United States military 
academy from the Memphis district, and upon graduation 
in 1846 went at once to the army at Monterey, joining 
the Fourth United States infantry as brevet second lieu¬ 
tenant. He was appointed aide to Maj.-Gen. John A. 
Quitman, acting as adjutant at Vera Cruz and Cerro 
Gordo. For gallant conduct at Chapultepec, Garite de 
Belen and City of Mexico, young Wilcox was brevetted 
first lieutenant, and was commissioned as such August 24, 
1851. In the autumn of 1852 he was ordered to West 
Point as assistant instructor of military tactics, and he 
remained in this position until the summer of 1857, when, 
on account of failing health, he was sent to Europe on a 
twelve months’ furlough. On his return he published 
a work on rifles and rifle firing. The war department 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


343 


ordered a thousand copies of this work for distribution to 
the army, and it was made a text-book at West Point. 
Wilcox also translated and published a work on infantry 
evolution as practiced in the Austrian army. He was 
ordered to New Mexico in i860, and on December 20th was 
promoted captain. At this distant post in June, 1861, he 
learned of the secession of Tennessee. Sending in his 
resignation, he repaired to Richmond, where he was 
commissioned colonel of the Ninth Alabama regiment, 
July 9, 1861. On the 21 st of October of the same year 
he was commissioned brigadier-general and placed in 
command of the Third Alabama, First Mississippi and 
First Virginia regiments and a battery. At Williams¬ 
burg this brigade bore a prominent part. At Seven 
Pines, Wilcox commanded two brigades, and at Gaines’ 
Mill three—his own, Featherston’s and Pryor’s. Some 
of the hardest and most brilliant fighting of this day was 
done by this command. At Frayser’s Farm other laurels 
were won. In this fight nearly every regimental officer 
in Wilcox’s command was killed, and Wilcox himself had 
his clothing pierced by six bullets. The loss in Wilcox’s 
brigade was heavier in the Seven Days’ battle than that 
of any other brigade in Longstreet’s division. Wilcox 
did not happen to have such a difficult part to perform in 
the other battles of 1862, but at Chancellorsville, in 1863, 
his opportunities were again great, and he measured fully 
up to the occasion, adding much to his already splendid 
reputation. On the field of Gettysburg, the magnificent 
fighting of Wilcox’s men gave new glory to the brigade 
and its dashing commander. On the 9th of August, 1863, 
Wilcox was commissioned major-general and assigned to 
the command of the division in Hill’s corps that had been 
commanded by Pender at Gettysburg. It comprised 
Lane's North Carolina brigade, five regiments; Thomas’ 
Georgia brigade, four regiments; McGowan’s South 
Carolina brigade, five regiments; and Scales’ North Caro¬ 
lina brigade, five regiments. In the campaigns from the 


344 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Wilderness to Appomattox, Wilcox’s division constantly 
added to its already great reputation. Notwithstanding 
the many brilliant victories of the final campaigns in 
Virginia, superior numbers and resources won at last. 
In the last fighting around Petersburg two small forts, 
Battery Gregg and Battery Whitworth (or Alexander), 
were ordered to be held to the last extremity. Two 
hundred men, most of them from Harris’ Mississippi bri¬ 
gade, at that time of Wilcox’s command, were placed in 
Fort Gregg and the rest of Harris’ brigade in Fort Alex¬ 
ander. These two points were all that barred the enemy 
out of Petersburg, for Longstreet’s forces which were 
to occupy the interval between the right of the Peters¬ 
burg line and the Appomattox river had not yet had time 
to arrive. It was the obstinate defense of these works 
that enabled Lee to hold his interior line until night. 
When the overwhelming masses of the Federals after 
many repulses at last carried the two forts, only 30 of the 
brave defenders of Gregg were unhurt, and nearly 1,000 
Federals had been killed or wounded. In the final charge 
at Appomattox, Wilcox had been ordered to support Gor¬ 
don in the desperate attempt to force the way to Lynch¬ 
burg. But the negotiations between Lee and Grant 
stopped the fighting before his troops became engaged. 
After the close of the war General Wilcox was offered a 
command in the Egyptian army, but declined. In 1886 
he was appointed chief of railroad division in a govern¬ 
ment department at Washington, D. C. 

Brigadier-General Marcus Joseph Wright was born 
at Purdy, McNairy county, Tenn., June 5, 1831. His 
grandfather, John Wright, was a native of Savannah, 
Ga., and was a captain of the Georgia line in the 
revolutionary war. His father, Benjamin, was also a 
native of Savannah, and was an officer of the Thirty- 
ninth infantry, U. S. A., serving under Gen. Andrew 
Jackson in the Creek war, and subsequently in the war 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 345 

with Mexico. His brother, Judge John V. Wright, was 
colonel of the Thirteenth Tennessee infantry, was in the 
battle of Belmont, Mo., in which he commanded his reg¬ 
iment, and was afterward elected a member of the Con¬ 
federate Congress, serving two terms. General Wright 
was educated in the academy at Purdy, receiving a class¬ 
ical education. He studied law and removed to Memphis, 
where he became clerk of the common law and chancery 
court of that city. He was lieutenant-colonel of the One 
Hundred and Fifty-fourth regiment of Tennessee militia, 
which was armed, uniformed, and otherwise equipped 
several years prior to the beginning of the civil war. He 
entered the Confederate service with his regiment early 
in April, 1861. On the 29th of April, taking a battalion 
of his regiment and the Steuben artillery, he fortified 
Randolph on the Mississippi river, above Memphis, which 
was named Fort Wright. In February, 1862, he was 
appointed military governor of Columbus, Ky., con¬ 
tinuing in this position until its evacuation by the Con¬ 
federate forces under Gen. Leonidas Polk. He com¬ 
manded his regiment in the battles of Belmont and Shiloh, 
being wounded in the last-named battle. As assistant 
adjutant-general, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel on 
the staff of Major-General Cheatham, he participated in 
the Kentucky campaign, and the battles of Munfordville 
and Perryville. He was promoted to brigadier-general, 
December 13, 1862, and in January was given command 
of Hanson’s, formerly Breckinridge’s Kentucky brigade, 
which he relinquished to take command of Donelson’s 
Tennessee brigade, which he led at the battles of Chick- 
amauga and Missionary Ridge. He was afterward 
assigned to the district and post of Atlanta, Ga., and 
remained in command of the same until its evacuation, 
when he was assigned to duty at Macon, Ga. His last 
military duties were performed as commander of the dis¬ 
trict of North Mississippi and West Tennessee, under 
Gen. Richard Taylor, by whom he was surrendered at 

Term 82 


346 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Grenada, Miss. General Wright was warmly commended 
for his services at Belmont and Shiloh. At Murfreesboro 
he commanded the Eighth, Sixteenth, Twenty-eighth, 
Thirty-eighth, Fifty-first and Fifty-second Tennessee 
regiments, Murray’s battalion and Carnes’ battery, a 
command which was distinguished in the fighting and 
suffered heavy losses. After the surrender he returned 
to his home at Memphis, and resumed the practice of law. 
Since 1878 he has been the agent of the United States 
war department for the collection of Confederate records 
for publication by the government, with his office at 
Washington, D. C. He has been twice married, and has 
five children living—Marcus J., Jr., of the United States 
weather bureau; Benjamin, of the United States navy; 
John Womack, and two daughters. 

Brigadier-General Felix K. Zollicoffer, of Tennessee, 
fell in battle before the war had lasted a year; but at 
that time there had been no death which inspired more 
genuine regret. He was born in Maury county, Tenn., 
May 19, 1812, of Swiss descent. His grandfather 

was a captain in the war of American independence. 
His early education was limited, being only such as could 
be obtained in the common schools of that day, and with 
but little preparation for the battle of life he was thrown 
upon his own resources. While yet a boy he was em¬ 
ployed in a printing-office, and soon became very pro¬ 
ficient. In 1835 he became editor of the Columbia 
Observer. Afterward he edited the Nashville Banner, 
with great ability, conducting it in the interest of the 
Whig party, earning for himself considerable fame as a 
political leader. In 1841 he was appointed attorney-gen¬ 
eral of Tennessee, and in the same year was elected by 
the legislature as comptroller. In 1849 he was chosen a 
member of the State Senate. He was elected a member 
of Congress from the Nashville district in 1853. This 
position he held for three successive terms, and won much 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY ,i 347 

distinction as a debater on all the leading issues of the 
day. He was so skillful in his wielding of figures and 
statistics that he frequently vanquished more eloquent 
men by the strong array of facts which he presented. In 
this way he was regarded as a formidable opponent in 
debate. To be a Whig at that day was to be for the 
Union. This sentiment Zollicoffer held in common with 
his party; but the continual agitation of the slavery ques¬ 
tion finally drove him, as it did many other devoted 
Unionists of the South, into the ranks of the State rights 
men. He was devoted, however, to the Union, and was 
convinced that its preservation could be secured through 
the policy advocated by the political followers of Bell and 
Everett. Therefore he earnestly-advocated the election 
of these two leaders in i860 on the brief platform, “The 
Constitution, the Union and the enforcement of the 
laws,” and canvassed the State of New York for that 
ticket, declaring that the election of Abraham Lincoln 
on the platform adopted by the Republican party would 
result in a sectional war. Having, as he thought, done 
what he could to avert such a calamity, when the issue 
was squarely made, he did not hesitate to espouse the 
cause of the South. He had some experience in military 
affairs, having been first a private soldier, and then a 
commissioned officer in the Seminole war. He assisted in 
the organization of the provisional army of Tennessee, 
and was appointed one of the major-generals of State 
forces, May 9, 1861. He received his commission as 
brigadier-general in the provisional army of the Confed¬ 
erate States, July 9, 1861, and was assigned to command 
in east Tennessee. He was beset by many difficulties, 
but acted with great justice and moderation. His efforts 
to overcome the hostility to the Confederate cause which 
existed in so large a part of his department met with con¬ 
siderable success. He issued conciliatory orders, and de¬ 
clared that no act or word would be tolerated on the part 
of officers or men, which was calculated to alarm or 


348 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


irritate the people of his district. Finding that Federal 
forces were gathering in Kentucky in such a position as 
to menace his department, he led a portion of his men to 
Barboursville, and without serious difficulty dispersed a 
Federal camp. Then marching in the direction of 
Somerset, he caused the retreat of General Schoepf in 
such disorder that it received the name of the “Wildcat 
stampede.” In January, 1862, he and his force of about 
4,000 men, near Mill Spring, Ky., came under com¬ 
mand of Major-General Crittenden, who was his superior 
in rank. Here occurred, January 19th, the disastrous 
battle in which General Zollicoffer lost his life. The 
circumstances of his death were as follows: The day 
was apparently going well for the Confederates, and 
Zollicoffer was ascending a hill where the enemy had col¬ 
lected his strength. As he rode forward to supposed 
victory, he came upon a regiment of Kentuckians 
(Union) commanded by Colonel Fry, concealed in a 
piece of woods. He did not become aware of his dan¬ 
gerous position until it was too late. Although a rubber 
overcoat concealed his uniform, a man who recognized his 
features called out, “There’s Zollicoffer! Kill him!” An 
aide to Zollicoffer instantly fired and killed the man who 
had recognized the general. Zollicoffer, hoping still to 
deceive the enemy, rode within a few feet of Fry and 
said, “You are not going to fight your friends, are you? ” 
pointing to a Mississippi regiment some distance off. 
The reply was a pistol shot from the colonel and a volley 
from his men, and General Zollicoffer fell from his horse, 
dead, pierced through by many balls. General Zollicoffer 
at the time of his death was between forty-five and fifty 
years of age. He was a man of unblemished moral 
character, amiable and modest in deportment, but quick 
to resent an insult. He was untiring in application to 
his duties and, had he lived, would probably have won 
distinction as a division commander. Many public hon¬ 
ors were paid to his memory in the South. 










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